Fig. 6

Inhibition of caspase-1 restored BBB integrity and VE-cadherin levels. VX-765 (50 μM) was added simultaneously to treatment with PX (600 μM, 24 h). a VX-765 blocked the PX-induced increase in permeability to NaF. N = 9 from three independent experiments (data taken from experiments also presented in Fig. 2a). Data presented as means of permeability coefficient (cm/s) ± SEM. b Medium from the treated luminal side was measured for cell death, using LDH release assay. VX-765 restored PX-induced cell death back to control levels. N = 8-10 from two independent experiments. c Representative images from immunofluorescence staining of VE-cadherin. Scale bar = 150 μm. d Quantification of VE-cadherin in BLECs monolayers demonstrated that VX-765 prevented the decrease in VE-cadherin expression. N = 8 from two independent experiments. Data presented as means normalized to control ± SEM. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. control, and ###p < 0.001 vs. PX