Inflammasomes are a critical component of innate immune response which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various chronic and acute inflammatory disease conditions. An inflammasome complex consists of a multimeric protein assembly triggered by any form of pathogenic or sterile insult, resulting in caspase-1 activation. This active enzyme is further known to activate downstream pro-inflammatory cytokines along with a pore-forming protein, eventually leading to a lytic cell death called pyroptosis. Understanding the spatiotemporal kinetics of essential inflammasome components provides a better interpretation of the complex signaling underlying inflammation during several disease pathologies. This can be attained via in-vitro and in-vivo imaging platforms, which not only provide a basic understanding of molecular signaling but are also crucial to develop and screen targeted therapeutics. To date, numerous studies have reported platforms to image different signaling components participating in inflammasome activation. Here, we review several elements of inflammasome signaling, a common molecular mechanism combining these elements and their respective imaging tools. We anticipate that future needs will include developing new inflammasome imaging systems that can be utilized as clinical tools for diagnostics and monitoring treatment responses.

炎症小体是先天免疫反应的关键组成部分，在各种慢性和急性炎症性疾病的发病机制中起重要作用。炎性体复合物由由任何形式的致病或无菌损伤触发的多聚体蛋白组装组成，导致 caspase-1 激活。进一步已知这种活性酶会激活下游促炎细胞因子以及成孔蛋白，最终导致称为细胞焦亡的裂解细胞死亡。了解基本炎性体成分的时空动力学可以更好地解释几种疾病病理过程中炎症背后的复杂信号传导。这可以通过体外和体内实现成像平台，它不仅提供了对分子信号传导的基本理解，而且对于开发和筛选靶向治疗也至关重要。迄今为止，许多研究报告了对参与炎症小体激活的不同信号成分进行成像的平台。在这里，我们回顾了炎性体信号传导的几个元素，这是一种结合这些元素及其各自成像工具的常见分子机制。我们预计未来的需求将包括开发新的炎性体成像系统，该系统可用作诊断和监测治疗反应的临床工具。