Fig. 5

Increased immunofluorescence specks of IL-1β in bronchioles of βENaC mice associated with mucus obstruction. a-d Representative confocal images of IL-1β (red), nuclei stained with DAPI (blue), scale bars are in micrometers. Wild type control (a) and βENaC unobstructed bronchioles (b) showed mostly homogenous immunofluorescence in the epithelium. c and d βENaC obstructed bronchioles showed increased speck staining of IL-1β; (e) IL-1β (left) localized to the same places as NLRP3 (right) in adjacent serial sections. Short arrows indicate increased IL-1β around intraluminal leucocytes; arrowheads: increased IL-1β at epithelial surface. f Box plot represents mean values of bronchioles’ speck numbers normalized to numbers of nuclei, measured from individual mice; βENaC animals are present with two sets of data corresponding to unobstructed (red) and obstructed (green) areas. Each dot in box plots represent the average of 10 bronchioles. Mann-Whitney, * p < 0.01