Cited by 4,884Inflammasome and immune disordersImmune Response and InflammationIL-33, ST2, and ILC Pathways

The NLRP3 inflammasome: molecular activation and regulation to therapeutics

Open access
Swanson, Karen V., Deng, Meng, Ting, Jenny P.-Y.·2019·Nature Reviews Immunology

Abstract

NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3) is an intracellular sensor that detects a broad range of microbial motifs, endogenous danger signals and environmental irritants, resulting in the formation and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome leads to caspase 1-dependent release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18, as well as to gasdermin D-mediated pyroptotic cell death. Recent studies have revealed new regulators of the NLRP3 inflammasome, including new interacting or regulatory proteins, metabolic pathways and a regulatory mitochondrial hub. In this Review, we present the molecular, cell biological and biochemical bases of NLRP3 activation and regulation and describe how this mechanistic understanding is leading to potential therapeutics that target the NLRP3 inflammasome.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41577-019-0165-0

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  • The primed NLRP3 inflammasome can be directly activated by ATP, reactive oxygen species, DNA released from damaged mitochondria, protein aggregates, uric acid crystals, ceramide, bacterial or viral RNA, asbestos, silica, decreased intracellular K+ and Cl− concentrations, and Ca2+ flux.

    “In the second, activation step, the now primed NLRP3 inflammasome can be directly activated by any of the various signals including ATP, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA released from damaged mitochondria, protein aggregates, uric acid crystals and ceramide, bacterial or viral RNA, airborne pollutants such as asbestos and silica, decreased intracellular concentrations of K+ and Cl− as well as”

    From Microglial function, INPP5D/SHIP1 signaling, and NLRP3 inflammasome activation: implications for Alzheimer’s disease (2023) · cites this paper as [58]

    The NLRP3 activation, K+ efflux, Lysosomal disruption, Mitochondria, and Ca2+ flux sections (pages unavailable) support a second activation step involving ATP, mitochondrial ROS and oxidized DNA, uric acid crystals, silica, asbestos, ion efflux, and sometimes Ca2+ flux. They describe these largely as stimuli or upstream pathways, not as agents that all directly activate NLRP3; the role of Ca2+ flux is explicitly debated. The passages found do not substantiate ceramide or protein aggregates as activation signals. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Canonically, inflammasome activation requires two stimuli: an inflammatory "priming" signal that induces NF-κB-dependent transcription of inflammasome components, followed by a second inflammatory stimulus that triggers the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome.

    “Canonically, inflammasome activation requires two stimuli: an inflammatory “priming” signal that induces NF-κB–dependent transcription of inflammasome components, followed by a second inflammatory stimulus that triggers the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome14.”
  • Pro-caspase-1 undergoes proximity-induced autoproteolysis, leading to active caspase-1 processing pro-IL-1β and pro-IL-18 into their mature forms and subsequent secretion.

    “Pro-caspase-1 then undergoes proximity-induced autoproteolysis, which leads to active caspase-1 processing pro-IL-1β and pro-IL-18 into their mature forms IL-1β and IL-18 and the subsequent secretion of these cytokines [55, 58, 61–63]”
  • Sufficient NLRP3 protein expression is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome formation and activation.

    “Sufficient NLRP3 protein expression is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome formation and activation (20).”
  • NLRP3 activation promotes cleavage of procaspase-1, and mature caspase-1 promotes cleavage of pro-IL-1β to IL-1β.

    “NLRP3 activation promotes the cleavage of procaspase-1, and then mature caspase-1 promotes the cleavage of pro-IL-1β to IL-1β (20).”

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Authors
Swanson, K. V., Deng, M., & Ting, J. P.-Y.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Ting, Jenny P.-Y.
Venue
Nature Reviews Immunology
Published
2019-04-29
Volume
19
Issue
8
Pages
477-489
ISSN
  • 1474-1733 (ISSN-L)
  • 1474-1741
OpenAlex
W2943293743
Cited by
4,884
References
180
Citations by year
2026: 807 · 2025: 810 · 2024: 773 · 2023: 760 · 2022: 734 · 2021: 552 · 2020: 394 · 2019: 51 · 2017: 2
FWCI
38.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature reviews. Immunology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (KL2TR002490)
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA156330)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U19AI109965, R37AI029564, U19AI067798, R56AI029564, R01AI029564)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P01DK094779)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Inflammasome and immune disorders
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune Response and Inflammation
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › IL-33, ST2, and ILC Pathways
Keywords
NLRP3 inflammasome, inflammasome activation, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, pyroptosis, gasdermin D, mitochondrial regulation, metabolic regulation, inflammatory diseases
MeSH terms
Pyroptosis, NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein, Animals, Calcium, Chlorides, Humans, Mitochondria, Phosphorylation, Potassium, Ubiquitination, Inflammasomes

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