UC Riverside

One of the master regulators of inflammation in cells is the NF-κB protein family, which regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome complex to coordinate a pro-inflammatory signaling response which can differ between cell types and from different agonists. This study observed that monocytic cell lines have greater inflammasome activity in response to common TLR4 agonists in comparison to microglial cell lines while also highlighting that primary microglia regulate transcriptional activity of NF-κB through phosphorylation of key proteins. Additionally, this study finds that microglia, in the presence of serum, have increased interferon activity and increased translocation of NF-κB to the nucleus to prime the NLRP3 inflammasome in comparison to microglia that are not in the presence of serum. Lastly, this study concludes that SARS CoV-2 spike protein causes upregulation of NF-κB and no significant change in p38 MAPK signaling pathways in bronchiolar epithelial cells.