Figure 6.
Production of IL-1β by alveolar epithelial cells upon B. abortus infection is dependent on caspase-1 activity. Alveolar epithelial cells were obtained from C57BL/6 WT mice and seeded at a density of 2 × 105 cells/well. Cells were infected, or not, with B. abortus and treated either with caspase-1 inhibitor (Z-WEHD-FMK, 5 μM) or the equivalent amount of vehicle (DMSO). IL-1β levels were quantified in culture supernatants obtained at 24 h p.i (duplicates per group and treatment). Values are means ± SD of three independent experiments (#p < 0.05, non-infected vs. B. abortus infected groups, ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test; *p < 0.05, vehicle vs. inhibitor treatment, Student's t-test).