Fig. 1.

NLRP3 inflammasome activation in lungs of patients who died of COVID-19 . Immunofluorescence stainings from patients with fatal COVID-19 (panels a, c, and e) and from individuals who died of cardiopulmonary arrest but without evidence of lung infection (panels b, d and f) are shown. In panel g, quantification of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, expressed as ASC specks per high-power fields, is provided with a significantly higher number of specks in COVID-19 patients compared with controls. ASC apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain. NLRP3 NACHT, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3.

Reproduced with permission from Toldo et al., “Inflammasome formation in the lungs of patients with fatal COVID-19” [15]