Melatonin Alleviates Radiation-Induced Lung Injury via Regulation of miR-30e/NLRP3 Axis

Figure 3

Melatonin suppresses radiation-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in RAW 264.7 cells. The RAW 264.7 cells were subjected to 15 Gy γ radiation and then treated with melatonin (500 μmol/L) for another 12 h. (a) Effect of melatonin on radiation-triggered ROS production in RAW 264.7 cells. The level of ROS was measured by intracellular fluorogenic probe staining (green). Higher intensity of fluorescence represented more ROS generation (magnification is ×200). per group. (b) Radiation exposure significantly induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Protein expressions of NLRP3 and ASC were detected by western blot analysis. (c) Quantification of relative protein expression was performed by densitometric analysis, and β-actin acted as an internal control. Similar results were obtained from three independent experiments. (d) The representative images of activated caspase-1 and PI double-positive proportions in RAW 264.7 cells were measured by flow cytometry. (e) The quantitative histograms from the obtained results. Levels of IL-18 (f) and IL-1β (g) in culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. All data are presented as the means ± SEM. vs. the control group. vs. the radiation group. per group. Mel, melatonin.

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