Fig. 2

MCC950 triggers NLRP3 inflammasome assembly in a transgenic mouse model (R6/2) of HD. Mice were treated daily with MCC950 (10 mg/kg of body weight; oral administration) or water for 5 weeks from the age of 7 weeks. The number of NLRP3-positive cells (identified by the expression of NLRP3; green, A) in the indicated mice (water-treated WT mice [n = 6], water-treated R6/2 mice [n = 6], MCC950-treated WT mice [n = 6], and MCC950-treated R6/2 mice [n = 6]) was quantified. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). The histograms show the number of NLRP3-positive cells in the striatum (B). At least 500 cells from each animal were counted. The levels of IL-1β in the serum (C) and striatum (D) were measured by ELISA (n = 3–6 for each condition). The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, between WT and R6/2 mice; ^#P < 0.05 vs. water-treated R6/2 mice. Scale bars, 20 μm. E–J Striatal lysates were analyzed using Western blotting. The results were normalized to those of actin. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. The molecular mass is indicated in kilodaltons. *P < 0.05, between WT and R6/2 mice; ^#P < 0.05 vs. water-treated R6/2 mice