Investigating inflammasome activation under conditions of cellular stress and injury

Inflammasomes are large multiprotein complexes that assemble in response to cellular stress and infection. NOD-like receptor-related proteins (NLRPs) are essential components of these complexes and are activated by exogenous and endogenous danger signals such as crystalline substances, extracellular ATP, and pore-forming toxins. In general, inflammasome activation is accompanied by perturbations in cellular homeostasis. For example, most inflammasome activators will trigger cation efflux, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and caspase-1-dependent cell death, commonly referred to as pyroptosis. In this chapter, we describe protocols to examine inflammasome activation and accompanying events in vitro.