Divide to conquer: NLRP3 is activated on dispersed trans -Golgi network

he NLRP3 inflammasome detects a variety of pathogen-derived and host-derived signals, but its mechanism of activation has long remained uncharacterized. In a recent study in Nature, Chen et al. demonstrate that NLRP3 activators induce the disassembly of the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and that NLRP3 is targeted for activation at the dispersed TGN (dTGN) by ionic bonding between its conserved polybasic region and phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphates on the dTGN.