NOD-like receptor NLRP3 inflammasome is a cytoplasmic protein complex that consists of NLRP3, ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein, which contains a caspase recruitment domain) and caspase-1, which has been shown to be a crucial regulator of diverse inflammatory diseases, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory bowel diseases (9, 10). The gene discussed is NLRP3; the disease is atherosclerosis.