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. 2022 Sep 14;8(37):eabo5400. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abo5400

Fig. 7. NIC inhibits inflammasome activation in PBMCs of patients with COVID-19.

Fig. 7.

PBMCs were isolated from fresh blood of patients with COVID-19 and treated with 10 μM NIC, TAC, and CLO or with 1% DMSO (vehicle) for 24 hours. (A) SNs were assayed for caspase-1 activity using the Caspase-1 Glo kit assay measured by RLU after treatment with 10 μM NIC, TAC, and CLO or 1% DMSO (vehicle) (patients with COVID-19, n = 15; all tested positive by real-time PCR) or (B) after treatment with 10 μM NIC or 1% DMSO (vehicle) (patients with COVID-19, n = 11; all tested positive by real-time PCR). (C) PBMCs from patients with COVID-19 were stained for anti-NLRP3 for determination of active NLRP3 inflammasome (puncta). Representative images of infected PBMCs containing NLRP3 puncta (green) in cells treated (D) with 1% DMSO (vehicle) or (E) 10 μM NIC. The inset highlights an image clipping. Nuclei were stained in blue. Scale bars, 20 μm. *P < 0.05, compared to vehicle; n.s., nonsignificant as determined by Wilcoxon test. Each dot represents the value form a single individual.