Extracellular Nucleoprotein Exacerbates Influenza Virus Pathogenesis by Activating Toll-Like Receptor 4 and the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Scientists showed that internal influenza virus proteins were released from infected cells. Among these proteins, nucleoprotein played a critical role in viral pathogenesis by stimulating neighboring cells through toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR4, and the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome.