Fig. 6.

Effects of ASM blockade on NLRP3 inflammasome formation in the primary cultures of ECs from EC-specific Smpd1 transgenic mice. Primary cultured carotid arterial ECs were treated with 7-Ket (15 μg/ml) for 24 h followed by treatment of ASM inhibitor Ami (20 μmol/l). A: Representative fluorescent confocal microscope images displaying the yellow dots or patches showing the colocalization of NLRP3 (green) with ASC (red). B: The summarized data show the colocalization coefficient of NLRP3 with ASC. C: Representative fluorescent confocal microscope images showing the colocalization of NLRP3 (green) with caspase-1 (red). D: The summarized data show the colocalization coefficient of NLRP3 with caspase-1. Data are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 6. ∗P < 0.05 is defined as significant. The scale bar represents 10 μm.