Fig. 2

NLRP3 inflammasome mediates endothelial hyperpermeability of coronary microvessels in NAFLD mice. The human targets of microvascular hyperpermeability was gathered from the GeneCards database, and the Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was performed to analyze the main function of target genes. NLRP3^+/+ and NLRP3^−/− mice were fed a MCD diet for 4 weeks or HFD for 16 weeks to induce NAFLD. A, B GO enrichment analysis of the human targets of microvascular hyperpermeability. The size of the circles represents the number of child GO term. The color represents the significance of the enrichment or the category of molecular function. BP: Biological Process, CC: Cellular Component, MF: Molecular Function. C–F Representative fluorescent confocal images of cleaved-caspase-1(CASP1), IL-1β, and ZO-1/2 (green) with vWF (red) and the summarized data of the Manders overlap coefficient. The area of interest (AOI) is selected for higher magnification, n = 6 per group. Scale bar, 20 μm. G, H Representative images and the summarized data of Evans blue concentrations in heart tissues, n = 6 per group. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Statistics: One-way ANOVA, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. NLRP3^+/+ mice fed with MCS diet; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 vs. NLRP3^+/+ mice fed with MCD diet; ^&&P < 0.01 vs. NLRP3^+/+ mice fed with ND; ^$$P < 0.01 vs. NLRP3^+/+ mice fed with HFD