Although inflammation forms part of the innate immune response to protect the body from pathogen infection and cellular danger signals, chronic inflammation is a major risk factor for various human diseases. The inflammatory response comprises two main consecutive steps; 1) ‘priming’, an inflammation preparing step and 2) ‘triggering’, an inflammation boosting step. In the last several decades, many studies have focused on the priming step of inflammatory responses, however, there have been recent advances in understanding that triggering plays a pivotal role in inflammatory responses by activating inflammasomes, intracellular protein complexes in response to various extracellular and intracellular stimuli.

This special issue aims to highlight the latest research to further understand the role of inflammasomes in the inflammatory response and in the development of promising anti-inflammatory agents targeting inflammasomes for inflammatory diseases. We invite researchers to contribute original research, review articles, non-clinical, and translational/clinical studies focusing not only on the roles of inflammasomes in the inflammatory diseases but also on potential therapeutic strategies selectively targeting inflammasomes to prevent and treat various inflammatory diseases.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Basic molecular and cellular mechanisms by which inflammasomes influence inflammatory responses and inflammatory diseases
• Identification and validation of novel agents that modulate inflammatory responses and ameliorate inflammatory diseases by targeting inflammasomes
• Identification and validation of novel molecules and biomarkers critical for inflammasome functions
• Translational approaches to treating inflammatory disease by targeting inflammasomes
• Novel inflammasome-related agents and technologies with potential applications in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases