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NLRP 1 – One NLR to guard them all
Author(s) -
Lacey Carolyn A,
Miao Edward A
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.2019102494
Subject(s) - biology , escherichia coli proteins , bacterial protein , bacteria , genetics
Microbial pathogens can be detected by inflammasomes that induce inflammation and programmed cell death. Inflammasomes are sensors that survey cells for signs of compromise. One of these sensors, NLRP 1, detects anthrax lethal toxin; however, the mechanism of NLRP 1 activation has remained unknown. Here, Xu et al discover NLRP 1 cleavage by lethal toxin induces the N‐end rule, which targets NLRP 1 for degradation. Surprisingly, the active inflammasome fragment escapes the proteasome and becomes an activate inflammasome itself.