Figure 5

Loss of ATM impairs inflammasome activation following S. pneumoniae infection. (A) Immunostaining for caspase-1 (green) and ASC (red) showed evidence of inflammasome activation in control cells following infection with S. pneumoniae. In contrast, reduced levels of Caspase-1 and ASC specks were observed in A-T cells post-infection, suggesting a defect in inflammasome assembly. (B) Quantitation of Caspase-1-ASC foci formation in airway epithelial cells from healthy controls and patients with A-T. A-T n = 3, healthy controls n = 3. Experiment was performed in triplicates with a minimum of 200 cells per experiment counted for Caspase-1 and ASC foci. All data were plotted as the mean ± s.d. Unpaired, two-tailed Mann-Whitney test was performed, *p < 0.05.