Institute of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne, BIL Biomedical Research Center, Chemin des Boveresses 155, CH-1066 Epalinges, Switzerland. jurg.tschopp@ib.unil.ch
A newly discovered family of cytoplasmic proteins--the NALPs--has been implicated in the activation of caspase-1 by the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) during the cell's response to microbial infection. Like the structurally related apoptotic protease-activating factor-1 (APAF-1), which is responsible for the activation of caspase-9, the NALP1 protein forms a large, signal-induced multiprotein complex, the inflammasome, resulting in the activation of pro-inflammatory caspases.