The Inflammasome: First Line of the Immune Response to Cell Stress

The NALP3-inflammasome is a protein complex that stimulates caspase-1 activation to promote the processing and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Recent work indicates that the NALP3-inflammasome can be activated by endogenous "danger signals" as well as compounds associated with pathogens (Kanneganti et al., 2006; Mariathasan et al., 2006, Martinon et al., 2006; Sutterwala et al., 2006). Here, we discuss new insights into the regulation of caspase-1 activity in the inflammatory response.