Although the NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pivotal role in host defense, its uncontrolled activation is associated with inflammatory disorders, suggesting that regulation of the inflammasome is important to prevent detrimental effects. Type I IFNs and long-term LPS stimulation were shown to negatively regulate NLRP3 activation. In this study, we found that endogenous NO is involved in the regulati...

INTRODUCTION NLRP3 plays a role in sensing various pathogen components or stresses in the innate immune system. Once activated, NLRP3 associates with apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) and procaspase-1 to form a large protein complex termed inflammasome. Although some investigators have proposed a model of NLRP3-inflammasome containing an adapt...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between NLRP3 and the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis. METHODS We used the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model. The mice were divided into two groups: the model group (CIA, n = 16) and the control group (Normal, n = 8). The mice were sacrificed seven weeks after immunization. The arthritis score and imaging evaluation (X-rays, Micr...

INTRODUCTION Pattern recognition receptor-mediated signaling pathways have recently been elucidated to bridge the innate immune system and atherosclerosis. NLRP3 is a member of the NLR family. Upon activation, it initiates IL-1β and IL-18 processing, a key step in the inflammatory process of atherosclerosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS We used three different types of lipoproteins, ox-LDL, ox-HDL, a...

AIMS This study hypothesized that activation of endothelial nucleotide oligomerization domain-like receptor protein with pyrin domain containing 3 (Nlrp3) inflammasomes directly produces endothelial dysfunction during hypercholesterolemia, which is distinct from its canonical roles in inflammation. RESULTS Acute hypercholesterolemia in mice was induced by intraperitoneal administration of pol...

BACKGROUND The Q705K polymorphism in NLRP3 has been implicated in several chronic inflammatory diseases. In this study we determine the functional role of this commonly occurring polymorphism using an in-vitro system. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS NLRP3-WT and NLRP3-Q705K were retrovirally transduced into the human monocytic cell line THP-1, followed by the assessment of IL-1β and IL-18 levels in the ce...

The NLRP3 inflammasome is the most characterized inflammasome activated by cellular infection or stress, which is responsible for the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18. The precise molecular mechanism for negative regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation needs to be further defined. Here we identify leucine-rich repeat Fli-I-interacting protein 2 (LRRFIP2) as an NLRP3-a...

Despite the fact that deregulated NLRP3 inflammasome activation contributes to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory or metabolic disorders, the underlying mechanism by which NLRP3 inflammasome signaling is initiated or potentiated remains poorly understood. Much attention is being paid to mitochondria as a regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, but little is known about the role of mit...

Activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is important for effective host defense against invading pathogen. Together with apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD domain (ASC), NLRP3 induces the cleavage of caspase-1 to facilitate the maturation of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine. IL-1β subsequently plays critical roles in inflammatory responses by activ...

AIMS Lectin-like ox-LDL scavenger receptor-1 (LOX-1) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage play a key role in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, and inflammation. We posited that damaged mtDNA could trigger autophagy and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and LOX-1 may play a critical role in this process. METHODS AND RESULTS In order to examine this hyp...