Fig. 1

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy subjects and patients with asthma differ in LPS- and nigericin-induced NLRP3 inflammasome–mediated IL-1β release. PBMCs from patients with non-severe asthma (NSA), severe asthma (stable SA(S); exacerbating SA(E)), and healthy (H) subjects were pre-treated with media (A–D) or LPS (E–H) for 2 (A, C, E, G) or 4 (B, D, F, H) hours before being treated with PBS (A, B, E, F) or Nigericin (C, D, G, H) for 1 h, and the effects of LPS and/or nigericin stimulation on IL-1β release was assessed in culture supernatants. Some cells were treated with MCC950 at the same time as PBS or nigericin stimulation to assess the effects of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition on IL-1β release. Data are presented as means ± SEM (N = 17–59). ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01. ^#P < 0.05 compared to control not treated with MCC950