Figure 5. Inflammasome signaling cascade.

This schematic representation is showing the cascade of different types of activators and inflammasome complexes and their mechanism of action in inducing inflammatory response and cell death. This figure shows that HIV infection and/or cocaine exposure induce the expression of NLRP1, NLRP3 (by ROS production), and AIM2 inflammasome genes which further activates the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to the apoptosis of the infected cells and/or surrounding cell population. This figure also shows other activators of NLRP1 (K⁺ efflux, Ca²⁺ influx), NLRP3 (K⁺ efflux, cathepsin B, ROS production), IPAF (flagellin from certain gram negative bacteria), AIM2 (cytosolic bacterial, viral and host dsDNA). Courtesy of AdipoGen Life Sciences (www.adipogen.com).