Local inflammasome activation was confirmed by western blot analysis of cleaved caspase-1—the effector enzyme of the inflammasome—in the atherosclerotic plaque and flow cytometric analysis using FAM, a fluorescent molecule that selectively binds to activated caspase-1, for cell-based analysis of inflammasome activation in plaque macrophages (Fig. 2b) and independently verified by histological analysis with increased caspase-1 expression in CCA plaques after stroke (Extended Data Fig. 5a–d). This evidence concerns the gene CASP1 and Stroke.