2026-03-31 スタンフォード大学
Scientists captured, for the first time, the formation of an immune signaling complex inside intact human cells. The results provide a closer look at how the complex assembles and interacts with other parts of the cell, offering new insight into the early stages of the body’s inflammatory response to infection and other stress signals. | Greg Stewart / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/03/immune-response-inside-cells-inflammation-research
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee2473
ヒトNLRP3インフラマソームの活性化は微小管形成中心における凝縮体の形成につながる Human NLRP3 inflammasome activation leads to formation of condensate at the microtubule organizing center
Jue Wang, Man Wu, Le Xiao, Gang Du, […] , and Grant J. Jensen
Science Advances Published:27 Mar 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee2473
Abstract
The NLRP3 inflammasome is a multiprotein molecular machine that drives inflammatory responses in innate immunity. Although its dysregulation is implicated in numerous human diseases, its structural organization in cells remains poorly understood. Here, we used precise fluorescence-guided cryo–focused ion beam (cryo-FIB) milling and cryo–electron tomography (cryo-ET) to visualize NLRP3 inflammasomes in situ within human macrophages at various stages of activation. After priming and activation, we observed expansion and dispersion of Golgi cisternae, along with the emergence of 50-nanometer NLRP3-associated vesicles, which likely transport NLRP3 to the MTOC. Dense NLRP3-containing condensates then formed in and around the MTOC. In later stages, the condensates solidified, coincident with widespread mitochondrial damage, autophagy, and pyroptotic cell death.
