Figure 1.

Overview of sterile inflammation. (A) When a cell undergoes an entirely apoptotic mode of death, damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) remain sequestered and are not visible to extracellular receptors. With a primary or secondary necrotic cell death DAMPs are released from the dying cell and can engage a variety of receptors on immune cells, resulting in the initiation of a sterile inflammatory response. (B) Inflammasome activation typically requires a priming step that can occur through TLRs and an activation step that can be initiated by a wide range of signals such as adenosine triphosphate, uric acid crystals and reactive oxygen species. Modified with permission from Mehal WZ et al.⁹