Fig. 3

Role of VSPAS7 in Giardia-induced host macrophage pyroptosis. Mouse PMs pre-transfected with pcDNA3.1-vspas7 vector for 24 h were incubated with Giardia trophozoites (MOI = 1:1). Cell culture supernatants and precipitates were harvested at different Giardia stimulation times (6 h, 12 h, 18 h and 24 h). Cells transfected with the pcDNA3.1 vector were regarded as the negative control and the Giardia-stimulated group as the positive control. a Expression or activation levels of key proteins during pyroptosis were measured by western blot. b Relative gray values of GSDMD-NT are shown. c IL-1β levels in cell supernatants were measured by ELISA. d LDH release in cell culture supernatants was measured by LDH assay. C: Control; G: Giardia. Results are expressed as mean ± SD from three separate experiments. ns, no significant difference, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001