Activated NLRP3 recruits an adaptor, ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (CARD), also known as PYCARD), along with caspase 1, to activate inflammatory caspases and promote the maturation of IL-1β and IL-18 (Figure 1); this process also stimulates pyroptosis, which is a rapid, inflammatory form of lytic programmed cell death induced after infections (217–221). This evidence concerns the gene PYCARD and infection.