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Inflammasome Assays
Physiologically relevant inflammasome models for mechanistic clarity and streamlined drug discovery
Overcoming inflammasome drug development challenges -
Selecting models that guide early decisions and reduce attrition.
Inflammasome-targeting therapeutics often encounter challenges because the models and assays guiding early decisions lack selectivity, translational relevance, and mechanistic depth.
Our advanced assay suite removes uncertainty by combining high-throughput screening with physiologically relevant models and orthogonal readouts, to provide the clarity you need to confidently advance only the strongest candidates.
Mechanistic insight drives decisions: From screening to validation, confirm on-target activity and mechanism of action.
Physiologically relevant models: THP-1 macrophage cell lines, primary human macrophages, iPSC-derived microglia, and organotypic brain slices deliver translational insight.
Robust, reproducible data: Early confirmation of efficacy and selectivity reduces attrition.
Partner with real experts: Our experienced scientists guide you through assay selection and optimization to meet your program goals.
Selecting the right read out?
Maximizing the outputs from a study is critical to not only generate supporting data for clinical trials, but to identify inconsistencies that reduce late-stage attrition. Our scientists combine deep expertise with an integrated approach to deliver data that reveals efficacy, selectivity and safety in one coherent framework. We design tailored strategies that can include:
Caspase-1 activation: The gold standard for confirming inflammasome activation and assessing potency
LDH release assay: Quantify blockade of inflammasome-driven pyroptosis and assess off-target toxicity
Cytokine secretion (IL-1β, IL-18 and more): Verify downstream effector function, technologies include ELISA, multiplex, MSD and HTRF.
ASC specks: Utilize high content imaging to confirm mechanism of action and potency.
Biomarker expression: Track phenotypic changes by flow cytometry or gene expression to confirm efficacy, selectivity and safety.
Selecting the right assay?
Robust, reliable assays are key to translating preclinical results into clinical success. We offer a suite of assays that probe the NLRP3 inflammasome which can be adapted to investigate other inflammasome targets:
THP-1 Cell Line Assay: High-throughput screening to identify lead candidates and concentrations for testing in primary cell assays.
Primary Human Macrophage Assay: Validate efficacy and reproducibility across multiple donors in a translational model. Supports phenotype polarization (M1, M2, TAM-like) for disease relevance.
iPSC-Derived Microglia Assay: Confirm activity in CNS-relevant cell types for neuroinflammation programs. Enables genetic background modeling and disease mutation studies.
Organotypic Brain Slice Assay: Test lead compounds in complex 3D ex vivo models to de-risk transition to in vivo studies.
Ensure your drug discovery program is grounded in a strong scientific foundation to accelerate your path to the clinic.
Download our whitepaper on Inflammasome Biology in Drug Discovery and read the accompanying poster for deeper data insights.
Ready to advance your inflammasome therapeutics?
Explore our inflammasome assay data:
Drug Potency and Effector Function in NeurodegenerativeDisease:
The figures shows inhibition of (A, B) IL-1β production, caspase-1 activity, and LDH release alongside (C) a decrease in ASC speck formation in iPSC derived microglia cultures treated with the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950.
The combined results confirm the potency, efficacy and mode of action of MCC950. (C) Exemplar high content imaging of ASC speck formation. Whitearrows show ASC specks.
The figures shows inhibition of (A, B) IL-1β production, caspase-1 activity, and LDH release alongside (C) a decrease in ASC speck formation in iPSC derived microglia cultures treated with the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950.
The combined results confirm the potency, efficacy and mode of action of MCC950. (C) Exemplar high content imaging of ASC speck formation. Whitearrows show ASC specks.