Inflammasomes in Myeloid Cells: Warriors Within

The inflammasome is a large multimeric protein complex comprising an effector protein that demonstrates specificity for a variety of activators or ligands; an adaptor molecule; and procaspase-1, which is converted to caspase-1 upon inflammasome activation. Inflammasomes are expressed primarily by myeloid cells and are located within the cell. The macromolecular inflammasome structure can be visualized by cryo-electron microscopy. This complex has been found to play a role in a variety of disease models in mice, and several have been genetically linked to human diseases. In most cases, the effector protein is a member of the NLR (nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat-containing) or NOD (nucleotide oligomerization domain)-like receptor protein family. However, other effectors have also been described, with the most notable being AIM-2 (absent in melanoma 2), which recognizes DNA to elicit inflammasome function. This review will focus on the role of the inflammasome in myeloid cells and its role in health and disease.