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. 2020 Aug 13;11:1881. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01881

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Caspase-1 expression was activated more efficiently by P. gingivalis than by S. mitis. Treatment with ATP led to significant upregulation of transcription and protein expression for NLRP3 and active Caspase-1. ATP combined with P. gingivalis induced an even higher expression of NLRP3 and Caspase-1 while S. mitis did not. (A–C) PMA-primed THP-1 cells were infected with P. gingivalis or S. mitis (MOI = 50) for 1, 2, 6, and 24 h. NLRP3 and Caspase-1 mRNA expression was measured by real-time qPCR (Aa,b), intracellular protein was detected by immunoblotting (B), and activated Caspase-1 secreted into supernatant was assayed by ELISA (C). (D) PMA-primed THP-1 cells were infected by P. gingivalis or S. mitis (MOI = 50) with or without ATP for 2 h. NLRP3 mRNA expression was measured by real-time qPCR (Da), NLRP3 protein was detected by immunoblotting (Db,c) and activated Caspase-1 secreted into supernatant was assayed by ELISA (Dd). Real-time qPCR data and ELISA represent means ± SD of at least three independent experiments and immunoblot analysis results were representative of at least three experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001.