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Updated: May 11, 2026

Detection of Inflammasome Activation and Pyroptotic Cell Death in Murine Bone Marrow-derived Macrophages
Published on: May 21, 2018
Lose the battle to win the war: bacterial strategies for evading host inflammasome activation
Naomi Higa1, Claudia Toma, Toshitsugu Nohara
1Department of Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0125, Japan.
Abstract:
The inflammasome is composed of nucleotide-binding, oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) proteins, and leads to caspase-1 activation and subsequent secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18). After certain pathogenic bacteria infect host cells, such as macrophages, NLR-mediated inflammasome activation is triggered to form part of the host defenses against the invading pathogens. However, recent evidence has shown that bacteria have strategies for evading inflammasome activation in host cells. In this review, we focus on NLR-mediated inflammasome activation and bacterial evasion of the inflammasome as part of the battle between the host defenses and pathogens.
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