Fig. 1
From: Increased expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome components in patients with Behçet’s disease
The protein and mRNA expression of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 is increased in Behçet’s disease (BD). a and b Representative western blot analysis (lane 1–3: healthy control, lane 4–6: stable BD, lane 7–9: active BD) and quantitation of NLRP1, NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 from cell lysates of freshly isolated PBMCs. β-actin was used as loading control (n = 5 per group). c The mRNA expression of NLRP1, NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 was measured from freshly isolated PBMCs by real time PCR and normalized against the expression levels of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate-dehydrogenase. The relative values are shown as a fold change to HC with no treatment (n = 8 per group). d Immunohistochemistry staining of skin lesions of BD patients and control EN lesions with anti-NLRP3 (left) and anti-ASC (right) antibody showed NLRP3 and ASC expression in inflammatory cells infiltrating the subcutaneous tissue (×200). Computer assisted image analysis showed significant increase in NLRP3 and ASC stained area in BD patients. The values are shown as a fold change to EN. The smaller box is a magnified region (×400) (n = 25 per group). Data are represented as mean ± S.D. (*p < 0.05), (−) no treatment. NLRP3: NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3; PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells; HC: healthy volunteers; EN: erythema nodosum