Thus, to assess if NLRP3 inflammasome might trigger the release of SMAD4 to the extracellular space, we perform an ex vivo model using monocytes from healthy subjects and OSA patients treated or not with two pharmacological inhibitors targeting both NLRP3 (MCC-950) and caspase-1 (Ac-YVAD-cmk), then the supernatant protein content was analyzed (Figure 4C). Here, NLRP3 is linked to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.