Advance in the activation mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome and its functions on some diseases of respiratory system

Abstract

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a multi-protein complex that composed by NLRP3, the member of the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) family, ASC (apoptosis associatedspeck like protein containing a CARD) and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 1 (caspase-1). The activation of the inflammasome causes the maturation of caspase-1, the matured caspase-1 cleaves the cytokine precursors pro-IL-1β and pro-IL-18 into active IL-1β and IL-18, then proceeds to cause an inflammatory response in the body.As it can be activated by a variety of pulmonary danger and pathogen signals, the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer, COPD, asthma, acute lung injury, pulmonary fibrosis and other respiratory diseases.Recently, the research of NLRP3 inflammasome has been paid great attention.In this review, we summarized the advance in the activation mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome and its functions on some diseases of respiratory system. Key words: Inflammasome; Cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 1; Interleukin-1β; Interleukin-18; Disease of respiratory system