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Inflammasome–IL-1–Th17 response in allergic lung inflammation Free
Anne-Gaelle Besnard1, Dieudonnée Togbe1,2, Isabelle Couillin1, Zoming Tan1, Song Guo Zheng3, François Erard1, Marc Le Bert1, Valérie Quesniaux1, and Bernhard Ryffel1,4,*
1University of Orleans and Molecular Immunology and Embryology, CNRS UMR6218, Orleans, France
2Artimmune SAS, Centre d'Innovation, Orleans, France
3Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
4University of Cape Town, IIDMM, Cape Town, South Africa *Correspondence to:Bernhard Ryffel, E-mail: bryffel@cnrs-orleans.fr
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 4, Issue 1, February 2012, 3-10,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjr042
Keyword: asthma, NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-1, Th17 cells, IL-17, IL-22
Allergic asthma has increased dramatically in prevalence and severity over the last three decades. Both clinical and experimental data support an important role of Th2 cell response in the allergic response. Recent investigations revealed that airway exposure to allergen in sensitized individuals causes the release of ATP and uric acid, activating the NLRP3 inflammasome complex and cleaving pro-IL-1β to mature IL-1β through caspase-1. The production of pro-IL-1β requires a toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 signal which is provided by the allergen. IL-1β creates a pro-inflammatory milieu with the production of IL-6 and chemokines which mobilize neutrophils and enhance Th17 cell differentiation in the lung. Here, we review our results showing that NLRP3 inflammasome activation is required to develop allergic airway inflammation in mice and that IL-17 and IL-22 production by Th17 cells plays a critical role in established asthma. Therefore, inflammasome activation leading to IL-1β production contributes to the control of allergic asthma by enhancing Th17 cell differentiation.