Figure 5.

Graphical summary of the release mechanism of IL-1β in vascular cells in response to oxLDL as an on-demand stimulus. In (A), primed EC (1), gene transcription (2) leads to the synthesis of proIL-1β (3) and receptor expression for uptake of oxLDL (4). oxLDL activates the NLRP3 inflammasome including caspase 1 (5) which both cleaves proIL-1β (6) and activates gasdermin D (7) leading to the release of IL-1β (8). In (B), primed VSMC through inflammatory stimuli (2) causes gene transcription (2) and leads to the synthesis of proIL-1β (3) and receptor expression for uptake of oxLDL (4). OxLDL activates caspase 1 (5) leading to activation of IL-1β (6), and mature IL-1β is released (7).