The inflammasome pathway is an important part of the host defence response to infection, and so microbes have evolved various mechanisms to evade this response. Our research aims to understand how inflammasomes detect microbes, and the microbial strategies employed to avoid this antimicrobial response.

Projects:

• Host-pathogen interactions with Salmonella Typhimurium
• Inflammasome modulation by bacterial effectors

Select Publications:

1. Chen KW¹, Monteleone M¹, Boucher D¹, Sollberger G, Ramnath D, Condon ND, von Pein JB, Broz P, Sweet MJ, Schroder K. (2018).
   Noncanonical inflammasome signaling elicits gasdermin D-dependent neutrophil extracellular traps. Science Immunology Aug 24;3(26). pii: eaar6676. ¹Joint contribution. Pubmed
    
2. Bierschenk D, Monteleone M, Moghaddas F, Baker PJ, Masters SL, Boucher D, Schroder K (2018).
   The Salmonella pathogenicity island-2 subverts human NLRP3 and NLRC4 inflammasome responses. Journal of Leukocyte Biology In press. Pubmed
    
3. Bierschenk D, Boucher D, Schroder K. (2017).
   Salmonella-induced inflammasome activation in humans. Molecular Immunology Jun;86:38-43. Pubmed
    
4. Chen KW, Gross CJ, Sotomayor FV, Stacey KJ, Tschopp J, Sweet MJ, Schroder K (2014).
   The neutrophil NLRC4 inflammasome selectively promotes IL-1beta maturation without pyroptosis during acute Salmonella challenge. Cell Reports 8(2):570-582. Pubmed
    
5. Schaale K, Peters KM, Murthy AM, Fritzsche A, Phan MD, Totsika M, Robertson AAB, Nichols KB, Cooper MC, Stacey KJ, Ulett GC, Schroder K, Schembri MA, Sweet MJ (2016).
   Strain-and host species-specific inflammasome activation, IL-1β release, and cell death in macrophages infected with uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Mucosal Immunology 9(1):124-36. Pubmed
    
6. Chen KW, Schroder K (2013).
   Antimicrobial functions of inflammasomes. Current Opinion in Microbiology 16(3):311-318. Pubmed

Image: Scanning electron micrograph of Salmonella bacteria (blue) invading an immune cell. Image has been re-coloured. Image credit: NIH NIAID