title: PKR stirs up inflammasomes.
abstract: Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that detect and respond to foreign and endogenous danger signals by activating caspase-1; active caspase-1, in turn, matures the pro-inflammatory IL-1β family cytokines by cleaving their pro-forms into the biologically active cytokines. The upstream mechanisms leading to inflammasome activation, in particular for the NRLP3 inflammasome, remain poorly understood. Lu and colleagues identify a new function of Protein Kinase R (PKR) for activating the NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4 and AIM2 inflammasomes, thus identifying a potential new target for treating inflammasome-mediated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Innate Immunity, Biomedical Center, University Hospitals Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, Bonn 53127, Germany.
authors.forename: H James
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Stunden
authors.forename: Eicke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Latz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D058847:Inflammasomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071199:NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D058847:Inflammasomes; D000071199:NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; C492716:Nlrp3 protein, mouse; D009569:Nitric Oxide