Science seen: A “wheel of death” for bacteria

The innate immune system acts like a border patrol for the body, picking up bacteria and other invading pathogens using molecular sensors. One key player is the inflammasome, a multi-protein complex depicted here through cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Using structural biology tools like cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography, the Wu lab in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine show how protein components come together in inflammasomes to form a “wheel of death” against bacterial infection.

Once they detect an invader, inflammasomes send out signals that trigger infected cells to die using an inflammatory death pathway called pyroptosis. They also call for backup from the adaptive immune system, in the form of inflammation. (Image: Wu laboratory/Liman Zhang)