Fig. 10: Model by which N protein induces lung injury by activating NLRP3 inflammasome.
From: SARS-CoV-2 N protein promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation to induce hyperinflammation

During SARS-CoV-2 infection, the nucleocapsid protein (N) could directly interact with NLRP3 to promote the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, thus leading to the production of a large number of inflammatory factors (such as IL-1β, IL-6, TNF, CCL2, and CCL8) and the occurrence of lung injury in mice.