The field of innate immunity has undergone an enormous upheaval during the last decade. The discovery of different groups of proteins, called pattern recognition molecules (PRMs), which detect microbial components, so-called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and trigger protective responses, had a huge impact on the understanding of innate immune responses. Among the PRMs, the intracellular Nod-like receptors (NLRs) have recently been identified as key mediators of inflammatory and immune responses. The NLR family is divided into subfamilies on the basis of their different signal transduction domains, and recent studies have highlighted the role of certain NLRs, including Nod1, Nod2, Nalp3, Ipaf and Naip5, in the detection of intracellular microbes and possibly 'danger signals'. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the function of these proteins in immunity and inflammation, with a focus on their participation in different disease pathologies.
2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland