Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • ASCI Milestone Awards
    • Video Abstracts
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Clinical innovation and scientific progress in GLP-1 medicine (Nov 2025)
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • ASCI Milestone Awards
  • Video Abstracts
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Supplemental material
  • Version history
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Advertisement

ResearchIn-Press PreviewInflammationNeuroscience Open Access | 10.1172/JCI199818

Inflammasome adaptor ASC promotes sustained neuroinflammation and mild cognitive impairment in a closed-head injury model

Tao Li,1 Sergio Castro-Gomez,1 Pablo Botella Lucena,2 Ana Vieira-Saecker,1 Stephanie Schwartz,1 Yingying Ding,3 Yushuang Deng,4 Maling Guo,5 Valentin Stein,3 Douglas T. Golenbock,6 Eicke Latz,7 and Michael T. Heneka2

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Li, T. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Castro-Gomez, S. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Botella Lucena, P. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Vieira-Saecker, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Schwartz, S. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Ding, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Deng, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Guo, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Stein, V. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Golenbock, D. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Latz, E. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Clinic of Parkinson, Sleep and Movement Disorders, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

2Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg

3Institute of Physiology II, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

4Translational Biogerontology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

5Department of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

6Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States of America

7Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Find articles by Heneka, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published February 24, 2026 - More info

J Clin Invest. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI199818.
Copyright © 2026, Li et al. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Published February 24, 2026 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) from closed-head injuries (CHI) can lead to prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders, including mood disorders and an increased risk for neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Inflammasomes are molecular complexes crucial for neuroinflammation and secondary damage after trauma, however their role in mild CHI is poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the cellular expression of inflammasome-related genes and their functional significance in CHI models. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of cortical tissue after trauma revealed selective expression of Asc (also known as Pycard), which encodes the inflammasome adaptor Apoptosis-associated Speck-like protein containing a Caspase recruitment domain (ASC), predominantly in microglial clusters. Sustained upregulation of inflammasome-related proteins, microglia activation and astrocyte reactivity persisted up to 21 days in a model for mTBI, with this pattern significantly reduced in Asc-/- mice. Importantly, mild cognitive impairment induced after mild CHI was largely abrogated in Asc-/- mice. These findings suggest that ASC, as the primary inflammasome adaptor, plays a critical role in sustaining neuroinflammation and contributes to cognitive deficits after mild CHI. This study provides insights into the molecular neuroinflammatory mechanisms underlying CHI, potentially informing future therapeutic strategies.

Graphical Abstract
graphical abstract
Supplemental material

View Unedited blot and gel images

View

Version history
  • Version 1 (February 24, 2026): In-Press Preview

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Supplemental material
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts