Inflammasomes Assemble

SnapShot: Inflammasomes

The Inflammasomes

Inflammasomes are molecular platforms activated upon cellular infection or stress that trigger the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1beta to engage innate immune defenses. Strong associations between dysregulated inflammasome activity and human heritable and acquired inflammatory diseases highlight the importance this pathway in tailoring immune responses. Here, we co...

The Inflammasomes

Innate immune cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells produce potent inflammatory cytokines to mount an appropriate immune response against microbial threats. The related cytokines interleukin (IL)-1b and IL-18 are generated as cytosolic precursors that require cleavage by the cysteine protease caspase-1 to generate biologically active IL-1b and IL-18. Hence, mice lacking caspase-1 are de...

Inflammasomes and dermatology*

Inflammasomes are intracellular multiprotein complexes that comprise part of the innate immune response. Since their definition, inflammasome disorders have been linked to an increasing number of diseases. Autoinflammatory diseases refer to disorders in which local factors lead to the activation of innate immune cells, causing tissue damage when in the absence of autoantigens and autoantibodies...

Inflammasomes in cardiovascular diseases.

NOD-like receptors (NLRs) constitute a recently identified family of macromolecules that participate in regulation of innate immune responses. To date, 23 members of the NLR family are identified in humans. Diverse NLRs are stimulated by a broad range of pathogen- or danger-associated molecular patterns, and collectively function as intracellular pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). The most s...