Astrocytes and Inflammasome: A Possible Crosstalk in Neurological Diseases

Abstract

Inflammasome research has primarily focused on neurological tissue, particularly on damaged tissue. Most current neurological literature involves in vivo and in vitro studies utilizing astroglia, as astroglia express the cytoskeletal glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), which is used as a hallmark of neuropathological disorders. Research suggests that astrocytes respond to all forms of neurological damage or disease through reactive astrogliosis. Additionally, there is a consensus among scientists that inflammasomes play an important role in neuroinflammation. This review focuses on the latest developments in inflammasome biology, describing the current understanding of how inflammasomes can be triggered in the brain and summarizing the literature on the relevance of inflammasome NLR in prevalent neurological diseases.