NKT Cells Join the Two Step for Inflammasome-Independent IL-1β Release

The cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is critical for antimicrobial defenses; the inflammasome pathway typically controls IL-1β release, but pathogens often evade this pathway. In this issue, Donado et al. (2020) describe an alternative, two-cell model, to instruct inflammasome-independent IL-1β release.