Foley A E, Sulstarova S, Goldenberg N M
Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Program in Cell Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2641:189-202. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3040-2_16.
Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that can be activated by a wide array of infectious and inflammatory agents. Inflammasome activation culminates in the maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as lytic cell death, known as pyroptosis. During pyroptosis, the entire contents of a cell are released into the extracellular space, propagating the local innate immune response. One component of particular interest is the alarmin high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1). Extracellular HMGB1 is a potent inflammatory stimulus, acting upon multiple receptors to drive inflammation. In this series of protocols, we will outline how to trigger and assess pyroptosis in primary macrophages, with a focus on the assessment of HMGB1 release.
