Human pyrin with gain-of-function mutations in its B30.2/SPRY domain causes the autoinflammatory disease familial Mediterranean fever by assembling an ASC-dependent inflammasome that activates caspase-1. Wild-type human pyrin can also form an inflammasome complex with ASC after engagement by autoinflammatory PSTPIP1 mutants. How the pyrin inflammasome is activated in the absence of disease-asso...

The various symptomatic outcomes of cutaneous leishmaniasis relates to the type and potency of its underlying inflammatory responses. Presence of the cytoplasmic Leishmania RNA virus-1 (LRV1) within Leishmania guyanensis, worsens lesional inflammation and parasite burden, as the viral dsRNA genome acts as a potent innate immunogen stimulating Toll-Like-Receptor-3 (TLR3). Here we investigated ot...

TLR2 promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation via an early MyD88-IRAK1-dependent pathway that provides a priming signal (signal 1) necessary for activation of the inflammasome by a second potassium-depleting signal (signal 2). Here we show that TLR3 binding to dsRNA promotes post-translational inflammasome activation through intermediate and late TRIF/RIPK1/FADD-dependent pathways. Both pathways ...

The mammalian immune system and the nervous system coevolved under the influence of cellular and environmental stress. Cellular stress is associated with changes in immunity and activation of the NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, a key component of innate immunity. Here we show that α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAchR)-signaling inhibits inflammasom...

Inflammasomes are newly recognized, vital players in innate immunity. The best characterized is the NLRP3 inflammasome, so-called because the NLRP3 protein in the complex belongs to the family of nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) and is also known as "pyrin domain-containing protein 3". The NLRP3 inflammasome is associated with onset and progression of various ...

Inflammasomes are multi-protein signaling platforms that upon activation trigger the maturation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18, and cell death. Inflammasome sensors detect microbial and host-derived molecules. Here, we review the mechanisms of inflammasome activation triggered by bacterial infection, primarily focusing on two model intracellular bacterial pa...

Over the past decade, numerous advances have been made in the role and regulation of inflammasomes during pathogenic and sterile insults. An inflammasome complex comprises a sensor, an adaptor, and a zymogen procaspase-1. The functional output of inflammasome activation includes secretion of cytokines, IL-1β and IL-18, and induction of an inflammatory form of cell death called pyroptosis. Recen...

Background: Pyrin domains (PYDs) mediate the assembly of inflammasome complexes, but PYD interaction modes are not well characterised. Results: Interaction sites were identified on the PYD of the inflammasome adaptor protein, ASC. Conclusion: ASC PYD has multiple binding sites allowing self-association and interaction with binding partners. Significance: Understanding molecular details of infla...

UNLABELLED Type III secretion systems (T3SS) translocate effector proteins into target cells in order to disrupt or modulate host cell signaling pathways and establish replicative niches. However, recognition of T3SS activity by cytosolic pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) of the nucleotide-binding domain leucine rich repeat (NLR) family, either through detection of translocated products or m...

Inflammasomes play a critical role in the development of vascular diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms activating the inflammasome in endothelial cells and the relevance of this inflammasome activation is far from clear. Here, we investigated the mechanisms by which an Nlrp3 inflammasome is activated to result in endothelial dysfunction during coronary arteritis by Lactobacillus casei (L...