The NLRP3 inflammasome is a multi-protein complex that drives sterile and pathogen-dependent inflammation. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome occurs in two steps: priming and activation. Priming occurs in response to an inflammatory stimulus, such as LPS. LPS-primed macrophages are subsequently activated by a second stimuli, most of which require K+...
Macrophages are innate immune cells that are traditionally thought to be specialists in phagocytosis. More recent evidence suggest that macrophages reside in nearly every organ and readily adapt to local microenvironmental signals, leading to highly plastic phenotypes across and within tissues. Therefore, rather than treating it as a homogenous cell...
Some of the oldest drugs targeting metabolism are the antifolates such as aminopterin and methotrexate (MTX). MTX started being used in the 1950s to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Aminopterin and MTX both target one carbon metabolism and inhibit proliferation of cells. MTX was a potent inhibitor of inflammation, because it prevented...