Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari, Robert W. Keane
Recent discoveries reveal that inflammasome signaling in neurons extends beyond host defense to influence fundamental aspects of brain function, including synaptic plasticity, axon remodeling, and exosome-mediated intercellular communication. This review explores how basal neuronal inflammasome activity contributes to central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis and how heightened signaling in neurons drives neuroinflammatory and degenerative processes. Understanding these dual roles of neuronal inflammasomes provides new insights into neuroimmune crosstalk and identifies potential targets for modulating repair and inflammation in CNS injury and disease.