Figure 4.

Epithelial cells display characteristic features of pyroptosis after nicotine exposure. 16HBE cells were treated with 0.1 or 1 µM nicotine for 48 h. (A) mRNA expression levels of caspase-1, IL-1β and IL-18 in nicotine-treated 16HBE cells were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. (B) Protein expression levels of pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, IL-1β and IL-18 in nicotine-treated 16HBE cells were measured by western blotting. GAPDH was used as a loading control. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n=3). *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. Control.