Abhimanu Pandey

Inflammatory markers are elevated in people with the zoonotic disease Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), but how the monkeypox virus (MPXV) drives these responses has remained largely undefined. A new study published in Cellular & Molecular Immunology [1] revealed that the cytosolic DNA sensor AIM2 triggers inflammasome responses and pyroptosis in MPXV-infected cells, leading to apoptotic and necroptotic cell death in uninfected bystander macrophages.

Abstract The inflammasome is an inflammatory signaling protein complex comprising a sensor protein, the adaptor protein ASC, and the cysteine protease caspase-1. Inflammasome sensor proteins are activated by microbial molecular patterns, endogenous self-derived damage signals, or exogenous environmental danger signals. Multiple inflammasomes that differ in their mechanisms of action and structural composition have been identified.

Abstract Inflammasome sensors activate cellular signaling machineries to drive inflammation and cell death processes. Inflammasomes also control the development of certain diseases independently of canonical functions. Here, we show that the inflammasome protein NLR family CARD domain-containing protein 4 (NLRC4) attenuated the development of tumors in the Apcmin/+ mouse model.