Inflammasome: putting the pieces together.

Microbial and danger signals result in inflammasome activation and release of inflammatory cytokines through mechanisms that remain elusive. Cai et al. and Lu et al. show that triggering of inflammasome sensors induces prion-like polymerization of the adaptor ASC into filaments. These structures function as platforms for inflammatory cytokine production and represent a unified mechanism for inflammasome assembly.