Fig. 6. Inhibition of CTSB and CTSL attenuates renal I/R injury and blocks NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

a Effects of different doses of Ca074Me on cathepsin (b, d, l) activity in HK-2 cells. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3). **p < 0.01 compared with the control group. b Effects of Ca074Me on cathepsin (b, d, l) activity in mice kidney. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 6). **p < 0.01 compared with the Sham-Saline group, ^##p < 0.01 compared with the IRI-Saline group. c Effects of HCQ on serum creatinine after renal I/R injury. d H&E staining of the kidney (Original image magnification: ×200, Bars = 200 μm). e Quantification of tubular injury. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 6). ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 compared with the IRI-Saline group. f Immunohistochemistry analysis of NLRP3 and ASC expression in kidney tissue (Original image magnification: × 200, Bars = 200 μm). g Western blots of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, and IL-1β in renal lysates. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3). ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 compared with IRI-Saline group