Fig. 2

High-salt enhances NLRP3 inflammasome activation in ECs. a Quantification of mRNA levels of IL-1β in TA and AA of ApoE^−/− mice fed with a normal or high-salt diet for 4 weeks. b Quantification of protein levels of IL-1β in the serum of ApoE^−/− mice fed with a normal or high-salt diet for 4 weeks. c, d Quantification of mRNA levels and protein levels of NLRP3 by HUVECs in hypertonic medium (290, 310, 330 and 350 mosmol/kg) with isomolar 270 mosmol/kg as the control, evaluated by RT-qPCR and Western blotting with β-actin as the internal control. e Immunofluorescent staining of NLRP3 in HUVECs with iso- and hyper-osmotic media. f, g mRNA and protein expression of IL-1β in HUVECs exposed to iso- and hyper-osmotic media, evaluated by RT-qPCR and ELISA. All data were presented as mean ± SEM, N ≥ 3. *p < 0.05