NLRP3 and atrial fibrillation: To determine whether CM-restricted activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome plays a causative role in AF pathogenesis, a CM-specific knockin mouse model expressing a gain-of-function mutation of NLRP3 (NLRP3A350V) mimicking the constitutive NLRP3 activation seen in CMs from AF patients, was established by crossing a previously established conditional allele (Brydges et al., 2009) to the CM-specific Cre transgenic mouse (Myh6Cre:Nlrp3A350V/+, CM-KI).