Fig. 1

Addition of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to drinking water (1% vol/vol) for 4 weeks induced colitis and increased NLRP3 activation in the brain of WT mice. A Schematic diagram of the experimental design. B Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining showing more severe damage in the colon of DSS-fed WT mice compared to DSS-fed NLRP3 KO mice. C Comparison of colitis-related pathology scores among WT, DSS-fed WT, NLRP3 KO, and DSS-fed NLRP3 KO mice. D Line diagram showing changes in DSS-fed WT mouse body weight during the establishment of colitis. E Chemiluminescence imaging of western blots showing that DSS feeding increased NLRP3 and caspase-1 expression levels in the brains of WT mice compared to untreated control (Ctrl) WT mice but not in NLRP3 KO mouse brain. F Comparisons of NLRP3/β-tubulin (i) and cleaved caspase 1/β-tubulin (ii) ratios among control WT, DSS-fed WT, control NLRP3 KO, and DSS-fed NLRP3 KO mice. G Chemiluminescence images of western blots showing increased brain expression of IL-1β by DSS-fed WT mice compared to Ctrl WT mice but not DSS-fed NLRP3 KO mice. H Comparisons of IL-1β/β-tubulin ratio among treatment groups. I Chemiluminescence image of ASC and β-tubulin immunoexpression by western blot showing that DSS feeding increased ASC oligomer expression in the brains of WT mice but not NLRP3 KO mice. J Comparisons of ASC oligomer/β-tubulin ratio among treatment groups. Each dataset is expressed as mean ± SD. *P ≤ 0.05; **P ≤ 0.01; ***P ≤ 0.001; ****P ≤ 0.0001. n = 6 mice