Deficiency of the Purinergic Receptor 2X₇ Attenuates Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Induced by High-Fat Diet: Possible Role of the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Figure 7

Activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in LSECs. Quantification of mRNA expression for Ccl2 (a), Pr2x₇ (b), Nlrp3 (c), Casp1 (d), and Il1β (e) and Western blot analysis of caspase-1 and housekeeping β-actin in representative protein extracts (f) from LSECs exposed to vehicle or 100 ng/ml TNF-α for 24 hours, followed by 0.2 mM BzATP for 40 min (mean ± SD; n = 3 in triplicate). versus vehicle. NLRP3 = nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD), leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domain containing 3; LSECs = liver sinusoidal endothelial cells; Ccl2 = monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) gene; Pr2x₇ = purinergic receptor 2X₇ gene; Nlrp3 = NLRP3 gene; Casp1 = caspase-1 gene; Il1β = interleukin-1β gene; TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor-α; BzATP = 2′(3′)-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)ATP.

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