Figure 7.

NLRP3 promotes aberrant sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca²⁺ release in obesity-related AF. (A) Representative Ca²⁺-spark recordings, (B) quantification of Ca²⁺-spark frequency (CaSF), and (C) estimation of SR Ca²⁺-load in atrial cardiomyocytes of WT and NLRP3^−/− mice after 10 weeks’ feeding of NC or HFD, respectively. **P < 0.01 determined by Sidak test following one-way ANOVA. (D) Representative recordings of pacing-induced Ca²⁺-transients (CaT), followed by spontaneous Ca²⁺-release events (SCaEs) and caffeine (10 mmol/L)-induced SR Ca²⁺ release as an index of SR Ca²⁺-load. (E) Quantification of SCaEs in atrial cardiomyocytes, **P < 0.01 determined by Student’s t-test. (F) representative western blots and quantification of SERCA2a protein levels in atrial tissues of WT and NLRP3^−/− mice after 10 weeks’ feeding of NC or HFD, respectively. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 determined by Sidak test following one-way ANOVA.