ADJ induces inflammasome activation in DCs, but deficiency for NLRP3, ASC or caspase 1 did not affect ADJ-mediated cross-presentationNext, we examined the effects of ADJ on the expression profiles of cytokines, chemokines and canonical cell surface markers of DC activation. Compared to untreated DCs, ADJ-treated DCs showed statistically significant, yet modest increases in expression of CD40, CD80, and CD86; no significant differences in expression were observed for MHC-I, MHC-II, or CCR7 (Fig. 1C).ADJ-treated DCs produced higher levels of IL-12 (p70), TNF-ďĄ, IL-1ďĄ, CCL3, CCL4, CXCL1, and RANTES, as compared to untreated DCs; no significant differences in expression were observed for IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-ď˘ (Fig. 1D). Particularly, ADJ-stimulated DCs also produced significantly elevated levels of IL-1ď˘ and IL-18 (Fig. 1D), which is suggestive of inflammasome activation. Since inflammasome activation has been implicated in modulation of antigen presentation by DCs (Sokolovska et al., 2013, Li et al., 2019, we performed B3Z assays using DCs deficient in NLRP3, ASC, or caspase 1 to interrogate whether inflammasome activation is required for ADJ-induced cross-presentation in BMDCs. Surprisingly, loss of NLRP3, ASC or caspase 1 activity did not affect ADJ-induced cross-presentation by DCs, in vitro (Fig. 1E). To validate whether caspase 1 is required for cross-presentation in vivo, we immunized cohorts of wild type (WT) and caspase 1-deficient mice with ADJ+OVA, and quantified OVA SIINFEKLspecific CD8 T cells in spleens using MHC I tetramers at day 8 after immunization. Consistent with our results from B3Z assays, caspase 1 deficiency did not significantly affect the activation of SIINFEKL-specific CD8 T cells in spleens (Fig. 1F), suggesting that caspase 1 is not essential for ADJ-driven cross-presentation to CD8 T cells in vivo.