AZD8154

Phospho-flow cytometry detects intracellular phosphorylated signaling proteins in single cells using phospho-specific antibodies after rapid fixation and permeabilization; the fluorescence intensity reflects phosphorylation state and therefore kinase-pathway activation, inhibition, or drug response in defined cell subsets. Unlike Western blot, phospho-flow preserves single-cell resolution and can measure signaling heterogeneity in cancer cells, primary immune cells, dissociated mouse tumors, macrophages, organoid-derived cells, and drug-screening samples when validated antibodies and fixation/permeabilization conditions are used.

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a cytosolic innate immune signaling platform that integrates priming signals and danger-signal activation to promote caspase-1 activation, maturation of IL-1β and IL-18, and gasdermin D-mediated pyroptotic cell death. The core experimental logic is to determine whether inflammatory disease phenotypes are driven by increased NLRP3 expression, ASC-containing inflammasome assembly, caspase-1 cleavage, GSDMD cleavage, and extracellular release of IL-1β/IL-18 rather than by nonspecific cell injury alone. The pathway is strongly linked to inflammation-related disease phenotypes because monosodium urate crystals activate NALP3/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in gout-like crystal inflammation, cholesterol crystals activate NLRP3 inflammasomes in atherogenesis models, and DSS-induced intestinal inflammation has been reported to involve NLRP3 inflammasome activity. However, experimental colitis studies also show context-dependent protective effects of NLRP3 inflammasome co