Figure 3

Inhibition of Caspase-1 alleviated pyroptosis in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) rats. Data from TLE rats after 6 weeks of treatment with caspase-1 siRNA or control siRNA using a mini-osmotic pump. (a) Neuronal pyroptosis was detected using the TUNEL staining assay in the CA1 and CA3 of rat hippocampus. Neurons with deep black nuclei were identified as TUNEL-positive neurons. Scale bars: 20 μm. (b) Quantitative analysis 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. *P <0.05 versus control siRNA treated group. (e) Western blot analysis of cleaved IL-1β in brain tissues and densitometrical quantification. β-actin was used as loading control. *P <0.05 versus control siRNA treated group. (f) The presence of IL-1β was measured by ELISA. All data are shown as mean ± standard deviation.