Figure 5

NET degradation inhibited the pyroptosis in the corpus cavernosum tissues of diabetic ED rats. (A) Assessment of NLRP3 expression in the corpus cavernosum tissues of rats using immunohistochemistry (n = 6/group; scale bar = 50 μm). (B) Assessment of the protein expression levels of NLRP3, GSDMD, GSDMD-N, pro-caspase-1, cleaved-caspase-1, and ASC in the corpus cavernosum tissues of rats using western blotting (n = 6/group); the uncropped protein blots can be seen in Supplementary file 2. (C) Assessment of plasma IL-1β and IL-18 levels in rats using ELISA (n = 6/group). Rats in diabetic ED + DNase I group were intraperitoneally injected with DNase I (a NET degrading agent) at the dose of 1 mg/kg for 8 successive days. Meanwhile, rats in Control and diabetic ED groups were intraperitoneally injected with the same amount of normal saline. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. **p < 0.01. NET neutrophil extracellular trap, NLRP3 NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing protein 3, GSDMD gasdermin D, GSDMD-N N-terminal proteolytic fragment of gasdermin D, ASC apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD, IL interleukin, ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.