Figure 6.

Bile acids did not activate the inflammasome in cultured mouse primary cells of either hepatocytes or peritoneal macrophages. (A) Bile acids increased mRNA expression of Nlrp3 and inflammatory chemokines Ccl2, Cxcl2, and Cxcl10 independent of the inflammasome in mouse hepatocytes (24-hour treatment) (n = 3–4). (B) Western blot analysis demonstrates that bile acids did not cause pro-caspase 1 cleavage/activation in mouse primary hepatocytes. (C) Western blot detected inflammasome activation in mouse macrophages (pro-caspase-1 cleavage and increased pro-IL-1β protein expression) after LPS + ATP treatment, but bile acids did not have such an effect. Of note, both hepatocytes and macrophages were treated with culture (Ctrl) medium, TCA, or LPS (1 μg/mL) for 16 hours, and were chased with ATP (5 mM) for 30 minutes. Clvd, cleaved.