What are NLRP3-ASC specks? an experimental progress of 22 years of inflammasome research

Abhinit Nagar; Ravi Bharadwaj; Mohammad Omar Faruk Shaikh; Abhishek Roy

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1188864

What are NLRP3-ASC specks? an experimental progress of 22 years of inflammasome research

Front Immunol. 2023 Jul 26:14:1188864. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1188864. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Abhinit Nagar¹, Ravi Bharadwaj², Mohammad Omar Faruk Shaikh^{3

4}, Abhishek Roy⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Flow Cytometry, Cytek Biosciences, Fremont, CA, United States.
² MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
³ Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
⁴ Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
⁵ Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States.

Abstract

Speck assembly is the hallmark of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The 1µm structure comprising of NLRP3 and ASC is the first observable phenotype of NLRP3 activation. While the common consensus is that the specks are the site of inflammasome activity, no direct experimental evidence exists to support this notion. In these 22 years, since the inflammasome discovery, several research studies have been published which directly or indirectly support or refute the idea of speck being the inflammasome. This review compiles the data from two decades of research to answer a long-standing question: "What are NLRP3-ASC specks?"

Keywords: ASC specks; Casp-1; NLRP3; SMOCs; inflammasome.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins / genetics
Inflammasomes* / metabolism
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein* / metabolism

Substances

Inflammasomes
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein
CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins