Keeping inflammasomes in check during bone resorption.

Ca2+ flux is a key trigger of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, but bone-resorbing osteoclasts operate in a Ca2+-rich environment created during bone resorption. In this issue of Science Signaling, Kaur et al. reveal that osteoclasts prevent inflammasome activation by limiting Ca2+ influx through the membrane protein Tmem178, thereby protecting bone from excessive resorption driven by inflammatory signaling.