E-protein suppresses NLRP3 inflammasome priming and monocyte recruitment in the lung. (A) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of spliced Xbp-1 in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05. (B) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Il1b in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05. (C) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Tnfa in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05. (D) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Ccl2 in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05. (E) Quantification of F4/80 + cells via immunostaining in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05. (F) Quantification of CD-68 + cells via immunostaining in whole lung of WT and Nlrp3−/− mice, injected intranasally with control and E-protein lentiviruses for 10 days and challenged intranasally with poly (I:C) for 24 h. Data are presented as mean ± SD, which were analyzed by one-way ANOVA coupled with Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. ****P ≤ 0.0001, ***P ≤ 0.001, **P ≤ 0.01, *P ≤ 0.05.