Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Immunol. 2017 Feb 4;86:56–64. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2017.01.023

Figure 2. Regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation during influenza virus infection.

Figure 2

NLRP3 inflammasome activation is a two-step process that requires signal 1 (for upregulation of inflammasome components including NLRP3) and signal 2 (for inflammasome assembly). Virus sensing receptors TLR7 and RIG-I initiates transcriptional induction of NLRP3 and pro-IL-1β thus providing signal 1. Type I IFNs secreted in response to virus sensing induces expression of ZBP1, another sensor of influenza virus infection, via autocrine signaling. ZBP1 associates with RIPK3 in virus-infected cells and mediates inflammasome assembly via the RIPK3-caspase-8 axis. Although ZBP1 – RIPK3 – caspase-8 axis is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activation in influenza virus-infected cells, the molecular mechanisms regulating inflammasome assembly is currently unknown.