Figure 2From: Asbestos and erionite prime and activate the NLRP3 inflammasome that stimulates autocrine cytokine release in human mesothelial cells Asbestos and TNFα causes release of cytokines from HMC. The LP9 cell line and isolated pleural mesothelial (NYU474) cells in culture were exposed to asbestos in the presence (+) or absence (0) of TNFα. (A) Release of IL-1β in the presence and absence of TNFα. (B) Levels of IL-6 in medium. IL-6 levels in NYU474 cells were elevated and above the scale of detection for LP9 cells. (C) Levels of IL-1ra in medium. All experiments in A-C were performed using a Bio-Plex protein array system for 27 human cytokines on media supernatants collected after 24 h of exposure to agents (N = 3 samples/group). Levels of IL-8 in groups of NYU474 and LP9 cells were higher than the standard curve of detection. (D) TNF priming did not increase asbestos-induced HMGB1 release from LP9 cells at 48 h (N = 3 samples/group/timepoint). * = significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from untreated control group (0); † = significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from TNFα-treated group; ‡ = significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from asbestos alone group at the same concentration.Back to article page