Figure 1.

Trypanosoma cruzi triggers NLRP3 inflammasome response in the liver of wild type (WT) mice. Male WT mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with 10³ trypomastigotes-Tulahuen strain and livers were collected and perfused at 14 and 21 days post infection (dpi). (A) Hepatic transcript levels of nlrp3 and asc. (B) Cropped lanes of protein expression of NLRP3 and caspase-1-p20 active subunit of liver samples assessed by Western blotting (uninfected controls, n = 2; 14 dpi, n = 3; 21 dpi, and n = 2). (C) Representative dot plots and absolute number of hepatic NLRP3-expressing F4/80+ cells. (D) Representative dot plots and absolute number of IL-1β-producing F4/80+ cells. Gate strategies (Figure S1A in Supplementary Material) were performed using anti-F4/80+ and anti-NLRP3 plus A633-anti-goat fluorochrome-labeled antibodies. Data are shown as mean ± SEM from one of three representative experiments; n = 2–6 mice per group. Statistical significance was evaluated by Two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.