Revisiting caspases in sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness that occurs due to an abnormal host immunenetwork which extends through the initial widespread and overwhelming inflammation,and culminates at the late stage of immunosupression. Recently, interest has beenshifted toward therapies aimed at reversing the accompanying periods of immunesuppression. Studies in experimental animals and critically ill patients havedemonstrated that increased apoptosis of lymphoid organs and some parenchymal tissuescontributes to this immune suppression, anergy and organ dysfunction. Immediate tothe discoveries of the intracellular proteases, caspases for the induction ofapoptosis and inflammation, and their striking roles in sepsis have been focusedelaborately in a number of original and review articles. Here we revisited thedifferent aspects of caspases in terms of apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis andinflammation and focused their links in sepsis by reviewing several recent findings.In addition, we have documented striking perspectives which not only rewrite thepathophysiology, but also modernize our understanding for developing noveltherapeutics against sepsis.