Figure 2

NLRP1 inhibition attenuated neuronal pyroptosis in the temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) rat brain. (a) Neuronal pyroptosis was detected using the TUNEL staining assay in the CA1 region and CA3 region of rat hippocampus. Photos were converted to black and white to obtain a better contrast ratio. Neurons with deep black nuclei were identified as TUNEL-positive neurons. Scale bars: 20 μm. (b) Comparison of the percentage of TUNEL positive cells among the experimental groups. (c) Representative photo of Nissl-staining in CA1 region and CA3 region of rat hippocampus. Neurons with intact morphology were identified as surviving neurons. Scale bars: 20 μm. (d) Comparison of the percentage of survival neurons among the experimental groups. (e) Cerebral caspase-1 levels from rat hippocampus were detected by western blot analysis. β-actin was used as loading control. (f) The expression level of cleaved IL-1β (18KD) was detected by western blot analysis and quantified by densitometric measurement. β-actin was used as loading control. All data are shown as mean ± standard deviation. Obtained from six rats per group. *P <0.05, compared with the group of sham rat treated with control siRNA.