Fig. 4

Activation of the NLRP3/Caspase-1 pyroptosis pathway partially nullified the inhibitory effect of NaB, a metabolite of intestinal microbiota, on the transdifferentiation of CFs. (A) Western blot to measure protein expression levels; (B) ELISA to determine the expression levels of inflammatory factors; (C) CCK-8 to assess cell proliferation; (D) Cell scratch test to evaluate cell migratory rate; (E) Immunofluorescence labelling of α-SMA protein. The experiment was repeated three times. The data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, with one-way ANOVA used for data comparisons among groups, with Tukey’s test. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01