<i>S. aureus</i> α-hemolysin requires potassium efflux to induce NLRP3 activation.

<p>THP-1 cells were cultured in media containing 130 mM NaCl or 130 mM KCl for 30 min. then treated with and without recombinant α-hemolysin (1 µg/ml) for 1 hour. (A) IL-1β secretion into the culture supernatant was determined using ELISA. (B) Cell death was determined by measuring LDH release and is expressed as a percent of maximum LDH release (determined with detergent lysis). The error bars represent Standard Deviation of triplicate measurements. Asterisk (*) denotes cytokine levels below detectable limits (4 pg/ml). Representative data from 2 independent experiments are shown.