provide evidence that cultured astrocytes express NLRP3 and are capable of promoting ASC oligomerization to allow the recruitment of NLRP3 and caspase-1 activation (Lu et al., 2014) along with the production of IL-1β and IL-18 in response to ethanol, ATP or LPS. Inhibition of caspase-1 by Z-YVAD-FMK abolishes the production of IL-1β and IL18, suggesting the role of caspase-1 in NLRP3 activation and cytokine production.
