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Fig. 6 | Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Fig. 6

From: Crystalline silica particles cause rapid NLRP3-dependent mitochondrial depolarization and DNA damage in airway epithelial cells

Fig. 6

Cyclosporine A (CsA) stabilizes the membrane potential and prevents DNA damage. a, b Mitochondrial membrane potential (using JC-1 staining) in 16HBE cells pretreated with CsA (10 μM) for 1 h and thereafter with silica (5 μg/cm2) (a) or FCCP (500 nM) (b) for times indicated. The ratio of green to red fluorescence was used for assessing the mitochondrial membrane potential and depolarization ratio. c, d Comet assay analysis of DNA damage in cells from a and b. Bars in a and b show means ± SD. e Western blot analysis of NLRP3 in 16HBE cells pretreated with CsA (10 μM) for 1 h and thereafter with silica (5 μg/cm2). All experiments were performed at least in triplicate. Boxplots in c and d show median with 95% confidence interval. e Western blot analysis of NLRP3 of cell lysate from 16HBE cells pretreated with CsA. a. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 compared to untreated cells, or #p < 0.05, ###p < 0.001 compared to cells not exposed to inhibitor, as determined by ANOVA

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