The aims of the current study were to systematically analyze the regulation of the expression of NALP3 by the P2X7 receptor in P388D1 murine macrophage‑like cells, and to investigate the association between the P2X7 receptor and the NALP3 at the molecular level. Cell culture, RNA transfection, adenosine triphosphate (ATP)‑induced expression of NALP3, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to explore the association between the P2X7 receptor and NALP3‑encoding gene in P388D1 murine macrophage‑like cells at the molecular level. The ATP‑activated P2X7 receptor can induce the upregulation of NALP3 expression at the gene and protein levels in P388D1 cells. These results demonstrated that the activation of P2X7 increases the expression levels of NALP3 in P388D1 murine macrophage‑like cells.