Regulatory roles of ginseng on inflammatory caspases, executioners of inflammasome activation

Abstract

Inflammation is an immune response that protects against pathogens and cellular stress. The hallmark of inflammatory responses is inflammasome activation in response to various stimuli. This subsequently activates downstream effectors, that is, inflammatory caspases such as caspase-1, 4, 5, 11, and 12. Extensive efforts have been made on developing effective and safe anti-inflammatory therapeutics, and ginseng has long been traditionally used as efficacious and safe herbal medicine in treating various inflammatory and inflammation-mediated diseases. Many studies have successfully shown that ginseng plays an anti-inflammatory role by inhibiting inflammasomes and inflammasome-activated inflammatory caspases. This review discusses the regulatory roles of ginseng on inflammatory caspases in inflammatory responses and also suggests new research areas on the anti-inflammatory function of ginseng, which provides a novel insight into the development of ginseng as an effective and safe anti-inflammatory herbal medicine.

Keywords: AIM2, Absent in melanoma 2; ASC, Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD; CARD, C-terminal caspase recruit domain; COX-2, Cyclooxygenase-2; Caspase, Cysteine aspartate–specific protease; DAMP, Danger-associated molecular pattern; FIIND, Functional-to-find domain; GSDMD, Gasdermin D; Ginseng; Ginsenoside; HIN, Hematopoietic interferon-inducible nuclear protein; IL, Interleukin; Inflammasome; Inflammation; Inflammatory caspase; LPS, Lipopolysaccharide; LRR, Leucine-rich repeat; NACHT, Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain; NF-κB, Nuclear factor-kappa B; NLR, Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor; NO, Nitric oxide; PAMP, Pathogen-associated molecular pattern; PGE2, Prostaglandin E2; PRR, Pattern-recognition receptor; PYD, N-terminal pyrin domain; RGE, Korean Red Ginseng; ROS, Reactive oxygen species.