Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Opposing roles of GSDMD and NINJ1 shape early IL-1β–dependent host defense during Toxoplasma gondii infection
doi: 10.64898/2026.05.28.728484
Figure Lengend Snippet: (A and B) Bone marrow–derived macrophages (BMDMs; 2 × 10⁵ cells/well) from C57BL/6 (WT) and NINJ1 ⁻/⁻ were primed with LPS (200 ng/mL) for 3 h and subsequently stimulated with nigericin (10 µM) for 1 h as a positive control for inflammasome activation. (C-G) Alternatively, Bone marrow–derived macrophages (BMDMs; 2 × 10⁵ cells/well) from C57BL/6 (WT) and NINJ1 ⁻/⁻ mice were infected with T. gondii RH-YFP tachyzoites at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 2 for 18 h. After infection, cell culture supernatants were collected and cells were fixed with PFA and stained with DAPI. (A) Cell death was evaluated by measuring LDH release in culture supernatants. (B) IL-1β secretion was measured in culture supernatants by ELISA. (C) Representative immunofluorescence images of infected macrophages. (D) Parasite burden was quantified as the ratio between the YFP⁺ parasite area and the number of macrophages. (E) IL-1β secretion was measured in culture supernatants by ELISA. (F) The total number of cells remaining adherent in each well was quantified from the immunofluorescence images using ImageJ. (G) Cell death was evaluated by measuring LDH release in culture supernatants. The data shown are representative of three independent experiments performed with at least technical triplicates, except for panels A, F, and G, which are representative of two independent experiments. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t -test or two-way ANOVA. p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001, p < 0.0001; ns, not significant.
Article Snippet: As a positive control for inflammasome activation, cells were primed with LPS (200 ng/mL) (InvivoGen, San Diego, CA, USA) for 3 h and subsequently treated with the agonist nigericin (10 μM) (InvivoGen) for 60 min. All infections and stimuli were performed in R3% medium, except for Western blot assays, which were conducted using Opti-MEM (Gibco) supplemented with 0.029 mM sodium bicarbonate (Sigma-Aldrich), 0.23 mM streptomycin (Sigma-Aldrich), and 0.25 mM penicillin (Sigma-Aldrich), pH 7.1.
Techniques: Derivative Assay, Positive Control, Activation Assay, Infection, Cell Culture, Staining, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Immunofluorescence