Molecular Mechanism of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Inflammatory Diseases and Tumors

The nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) are pattern recognition receptors. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), a member of the NLRs family, can form a protein complex with caspase-1, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein and caspase recruitment domain. And its assembly and activation cause inflammatory reaction and are closely related to the effects of antitumor immunity. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome can induce polarization, hyperactivity or pyroptosis of immune cells, releasing interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18, which leads a cascade immunity or inflammatory responses. As an important component of the innate immune system, the NLRP3 inflammasome plays vital roles inflammatory diseases and tumors. In this review, we attempt to summarize the recent findings about the role of NLRP3 in the pathogenesis of tumors and inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer disease, and atherosclerosis.