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Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Detection of Inflammasome Activation and Pyroptotic Cell Death in Murine Bone Marrow-derived Macrophages
Published on: May 21, 2018
Structures and functions of the inflammasome engine
Longfei Wang1, Humayun Sharif1, Setu M Vora1
1Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Abstract:
Inflammasomes are molecular machines that carry out inflammatory responses on challenges by pathogens and endogenous dangers. Dysregulation of inflammasome assembly and regulation is associated with numerous human diseases from autoimmunity to cancer. In recent years, significant advances have been made in understanding the mechanism of inflammasome signaling using structural approaches. Here, we review inflammasomes formed by the NLRP1, NLRP3, and NLRC4 sensors, which are well characterized structurally, and discuss the structural and functional diversity among them.
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