Inflammasomes and the fine line between defense and disease.

Recognition of invading pathogens and execution of defensive responses are crucial steps in successfully combating infectious diseases. Inflammasomes are a group of diverse, signal-transducing complexes with key roles in both processes. While the responses mediated by inflammasomes are vital to host defense, aberrations in inflammasome regulation or activity can lead to the development of autoimmune and sterile inflammatory diseases, including cancer. The field of inflammasome research has rapidly expanded to identify novel regulatory pathways, new inflammasome components, and the mechanistic details of the activation of these complexes. In this review, we discuss recent insights into the regulation of inflammasomes by interferon regulatory factor proteins, newly discovered mechanisms of activation for the NLRP1b and NLRP6 inflammasomes, and recent studies exploring the viability of inflammasome-modulating immunotherapies.