Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Neurobiol. 2021 Jan 8;58(5):2215–2230. doi: 10.1007/s12035-020-02184-x

Fig. 6. Cocaine upregulated the expression of NLRP3 pathway and microglial activation in the striatum.

Fig. 6

Wild-type mice (C57BL/6) were administered cocaine (i.p. 20 mg/kg) or saline for 7 consecutive days followed by euthanasia within 1 h of the last injection and removal of brains for analysis of NLRP3 pathway mediators. The expression of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1 and IL-1β were significantly upregulated in the striatum (a-d). The expression of microglial markers CD11b and Iba-1 was upregulated in cocaine treated mice (e & f). Immunofluorescence analysis similarly showed increased NLRP3 and Iba-1 staining in presence of cocaine (g) and the fold change in NLRP3 fluorescence intensity analyzed (h). Cocaine administration in these mice decreased microglial cell process length (i). N =4/ group. Quantification of western blots is shown under each blot. Data are shown as mean±SEM and *p< 0.05.