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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Immunol. 2021 Aug 29;370:104425. doi: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2021.104425

Fig. 5. Caspase-11−/− mice show reduced lung inflammation with similar airway resistance and mucus production.

Fig. 5.

Airway hyper-responsiveness to increasing concentrations of methacholine was measured 24 h after the last HDM challenge. Airway hyper-responsiveness was measured by recording changes in lung resistance of WT and caspase-11−/− mice (A). The experiment was performed once with five mice per genotype. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 5) per group obtained from one experiment. Two-way ANOVA performed for statistical analysis. A linear mixed model was used to take account of the correlation among observations from the same mouse within the same cage. No significant difference was seen between caspase-11−/− and WT on the lung contraction averaged across the drug concentrations. Semi-quantitative scoring of inflammation and cellular infiltration in the lungs scored was performed in a blinded fashion by a board-certified veterinary comparative pathologist (B). Representative H&E sections showing reduced lung inflammation in caspase-11−/− mice exposed to HDM compared to WT. WT mice had more significant perivascular and peribronchiolar inflammation, while there were no statistical differences in alveolar macrophages (arrows). Inset shows a blood vessel with perivascular and vascular wall inflammation at higher magnification (C). Total magnifications are 40x for lung overviews and 200x for other images including insets. Scale bar for 40x photomicrographs = 200 μm, scale bar for 200x photomicrographs = 50 μm. Data represent the mean ± SD (n = 5) per group obtained from the second in vivo experiment. Mann Whitney test performed for statistical analysis, * P < 0.05. The experiment was done twice with seven mice per group in the first in vivo experiment and 5 mice per group in the second in vivo experiment. Representative lung images derived from WT and caspase-11−/− mice are shown from the second in vivo experiment. Lung sections derived from WT or caspase-11−/− stained with periodic acid schiff (PAS). Similar quantities of PAS-positive mucosubstances (arrows) are visible in bronchiolar epithelium in both WT and caspase-11−/− mice (D). Representative (n = 2) expression of muc5ac mRNA was measured by quantitative PCR obtained from the second in vivo experiment (E).