Fig. 6

Adoptive transfer of circulating EVs from animals with ventilation-induced lung causes brain inflammation. IBA1 staining on brain sections of the corpus callosum and subcortical white matter of normal newborn rats who received adoptive transfer of circulating EVs from controls (A), low Vt (B), and high Vt (C) shows increased microglial count with exosomes from animals with VILI (D). Circulating EVs from animals with VILI also activated caspase-1 (E) and GSDMD (F) in the brain compared to exosomes from control animals. N = 5 controls, 5 low Vt, and 4 high Vt for IBA1 immunostaining. N = 3/group for caspase-1 and GSDMD western blot. Data is shown as box plots or individual data points. Western blot data is normalized to control. Data was analyzed by ANOVA with Dunnett’s post-test for multiple comparison, p values < 0.05 are shown on bars