Researchers find ASC specks released by cells eaten by other immune cells leads to multiplying inflammation

Microscopy of BMDMs. Credit: Nature Immunology (2014) doi:10.1038/ni.2913

Two teams of researchers, one working in Spain, the other in Germany have independently discovered a connection between ASC specks released by macrophages during cell death and ingestion by other macrophages that can lead to multiplying inflammation. Both teams have published their findings in the journalNature Immunology.

Inflammation in the body can be a good thing, helping to heal, but in many cases, it can be a bad thing, causing harm rather than good. Pneumonia, for example, is one prominent example of inflammation gone awry. Another instance where it occurs is in some autoimmune diseases, where the body fights itself, quite often using inflammation as a tool. The two teams in Europe have now found one of the mechanisms responsible for multiplying inflammation, which is where inflammation spreads beyond a localized area, seemingly, without a good reason.

ASC specks are molecular assemblages…