Abstract:Atherosclerosis causes severe cardiovascular diseases, and those diseases are the most serious threats to public health. Inflammation was generally considered as a novel risk factor of atherosclerosis besides some classic factors, such as hyperlipemia. The Nod-like receptor protein-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a large multimeric danger-sensing platform, as one of innate immunity response, promotes the activation of Caspase-1 and mediates the mature of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. Evidences have been provided that NLRP3 inflammasome has a critical role in the development of atherosclerosis. Here we discuss the advance in the role of NLRP3 Inflammasome in atherogenesis, and the potential targets of atherosclerosis according to NLRP3 inflammasome.