Fig. 4

SS-31’s autophagy-activating and pyroptosis-inhibiting effects are inhibited by CQ. A–C Representative double immunostaining images of LC3/NeuN and p62/NeuN in the injured spinal cord lesions from each group (the Sham, Sham + CQ, SCI, SCI + SS-31, SCI + SS-31 + CQ groups) at 3 dpi (scale bar = 25 μm). The number of LC3 II puncta and the integrated density of p62 in each neuron are shown on the graph. D Typical images of WB analyses of VPS34, Beclin-1, p62, and LC3 in the injured spinal cord lesions. GAPDH was utilized as a loading control. E Quantified data of the WB results for autophagy-related proteins. F–H Representative double immunostaining images of Caspase-1/NeuN and NLRP3/NeuN in the injured spinal cord lesions from each group (the SCI, SCI + SS-31, SCI + SS-31 + CQ groups) at 3 dpi (scale bar = 25 μm). The quantitative integrated density of Caspase-1 and NLRP3 in each neuron is shown on the graph. I Typical images of WB analyses of Caspase-1, GSDMD-N, NLRP3, NLRP1, ASC, IL-1β and IL-18 in the injured spinal cord lesions. GAPDH was utilized as a loading control. J The quantified data of the WB results from pyroptosis-related proteins. The data are shown as the mean ± SEM. (n = 5 every group); *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. ns indicates no significance