Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Activation and Measurement of NLRP3 Inflammasome Activity Using IL-1β in Human Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells
Published on: May 22, 2014
The NLRP3 inflammasome - interleukin 1β axis in uveal melanoma
Victor S M C Correa1, Nikolaos E Efstathiou1, Dimitrios P Ntentakis1
1Retina Service, Ines and Fred Yeatts Retina Research Laboratory, Angiogenesis Laboratory, Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract:
Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular cancer in the adult population. Recent studies suggested that the NLRP3 inflammasome could be a therapeutic target for cutaneous melanoma (CM), but the role of NLRP3 in UM remains unknown. Here, we analyzed the NLRP3-IL-1β axis in 5 UM and 4 CM cell lines. Expression of NLRP3 mRNA in UM and CM was low, and expression in UM was lower than in CM (P < 0.001). NLRP3 protein levels were below detection limit for all cell lines. UM exhibited lower baseline IL-1β secretion than CM, especially when compared to the Hs294t cell line (P < 0.05). Bioinformatic analysis of human tumor samples showed that UM has significantly lower expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β compared with CM. In conclusion, our work shows evidence of extremely low NLRP3 expression and IL-1β secretion by melanoma cells and highlight differences between CM and UM.
Related Concept Videos
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The...
The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway
Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response

