Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Cell Microbiol. 2019 Nov;21(11):e13079. doi: 10.1111/cmi.13079. Epub 2019 Jul 22.
Inflammasomes are cytosolic, multimeric protein complexes capable of activating pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18, which play a key role in host defence. Inflammasome components are highly expressed in the intestinal epithelium. In recent years, studies have begun to demonstrate that epithelial-intrinsic inflammasomes play a critical role in regulating epithelial homeostasis, both by defending the epithelium from pathogenic insult and through the regulation of the mucosal environment. However, the majority of research regarding inflammasome activation has focused on professional immune cells, such as macrophages. Here, we present an overview of the current understanding of inflammasome function in epithelial cells and at mucosal surfaces and, in particular, in the intestine.
炎症小体是细胞浆中的多聚体蛋白复合物，能够激活白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和白细胞介素-18（IL-18）等促炎细胞因子，在宿主防御中发挥关键作用。炎症小体的组成部分在肠上皮细胞中高度表达。近年来，研究开始表明上皮细胞内的炎症小体在调节上皮细胞稳态方面发挥着关键作用，既能抵御上皮细胞的致病损伤，又能调节黏膜环境。然而，大多数关于炎症小体激活的研究都集中在专业免疫细胞上，如巨噬细胞。在这里，我们概述了目前对上皮细胞和黏膜表面，特别是肠道中炎症小体功能的理解。
