Guest Speaker, Hal Hoffman, MD-Excellence in Genetics & Immunology Seminar Series

Guest Speaker: HAL M. HOFFMAN, MD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS AND MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO AND RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF SAN DIEGO

Hosted by Drs. Maya Saleh & Philippe Gros, McGill Complex Traits Group

Title: Diseases of the inflammasome

ABSTRACT: Recent years have seen the explosion of exciting research concerning mechanisms regulating the release of IL-1b and the importance of IL-1b in numerous inflammatory diseases. Human genome analysis led to the discovery of a novel family of NLR proteins involved in innate immunity, several of which form intracellular complexes known as inflammasomes, which respond to pathogens, non pathogenic inflammatory stimuli, and internal danger signals. Advances in human genetics have revealed a principal role for IL-1b in the pathogenesis of recurrent fever disorders and further studies have expanded the autoinflammatory disease family beyond rare Mendelian syndromes to include common conditions such as gout and occupational lung disease. With the advent of IL-1-targeted therapy, diseases associated with excess IL-1b can now be treated effectively.