Insight Into Inflammasome Signaling: Implications for Toxoplasma gondii Infection

• Main Authors: Yang Wang, Jinjin Zhu, Yuanyuan Cao, Jilong Shen, Li Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-12-01
• Series: Frontiers in Immunology
• Subjects: Toxoplasma gondii; NLRP1; NLRP3; AIM2; inflammasome; infection
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.583193/full

Inflammasomes are multimeric protein complexes regulating the innate immune response to invading pathogens or stress stimuli. Recent studies have reported that nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLRs) proteins and DNA sensor absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) serve as inflammasome sentinels, whose stimulation leads to the proteolytic activation of caspase-1, proinflammatory cytokine secretion, and pyroptotic cell death. Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular parasite of phylum Apicomplexans, is reportedly involved in NLRP1, NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes activation; however, mechanistic evidence regarding the activation of these complexes is preliminary. This review describes the current understanding of inflammasome signaling in rodent and human models of T. gondii infection.