Figure 3.

Tumorigenesis and antitumorigenesis of AIM2 in mammary tumors. The mature IL‐1β driven by AIM2 inflammasome promotes HIF‐1α expression through the NF‐κB/COX‐2 pathway. The association between mitochondria and AIM2 contributes to the MAPK/ERK signaling response that leads to tumorigenesis in NSCLC. In contrast, in colon cancer, DNA‐PK, as well as PI3K, are inhibited by AIM2, triggering the inactivation of AKT and c‐Myc, thereby preventing tumorigenesis. Additionally, the mTOR‐S6K1‐HIF‐1α pathway is inhibited by the AIM2 inflammasome, which plays an antitumorigenic role in hepatocellular carcinoma. AIM2, absent in melanoma 2; ASC, apoptosis‐associated speck‐like protein containing a CARD; dsDNA, double stranded DNA; GSDMD, gasdermin‐D; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin