The NLR-related disorders

Excerpt

The present issue, which is dedicated to the NOD-like receptors (NLRs), is particularly timely since there is burgeoning evidence that these molecules play a pivotal role in an expanding number of monogenic and polygenic disease. At the molecular level the NLR family of molecules plays a key role as pattern recognition receptors for intracellular bacterial constituents, toxins and also sensing cellular metabolic stress by an array of mechanisms. Several of the NLR- related molecules form integral components of a multimeric protein complex, termed the inflammasome, as first described in 2002 by Martinon et al.; this fundamental discovery has been subsequently translated into many clinical applications, as described in this edition. Other closely related multimeric molecular platforms, such as the Nodosome, which is involved in the control of bacterial infections and inflammation, have also been described. …