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Caspases control antiviral innate immunity

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 14, pages 736–747 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Caspases are a family of cysteine proteases whose functions have been scrutinized intensively in recent years. Beyond their established roles in programmed cell death and inflammatory response, some caspases are also fundamental players in antiviral immunity by fine-tuning the levels of antiviral signaling adapters and cytokines, such as type I interferons, which serves as a major, sophisticated weapon against viruses. Viral infections can result in inflammasome activation and the initiation of cell death, including apoptosis and pyroptosis, and multiple caspases are significantly involved in these processes. This review will focus on the cutting-edge discoveries regarding the multifaceted roles of caspases in antiviral innate immunity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Jiang Laboratory for helpful discussions. We apologize for being unable to include the important contributions from all researchers in the field due to space limitations. Recent and ongoing studies performed in the Jiang Laboratory are supported by grants from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2014CB542600 and 2015CC040097) and the China Natural Science Foundation (31230023, 91129000 and 81621001).

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  1. Huihui Chen and Xiaohan Ning: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen BOLI Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518040, China

    Huihui Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Xiaohan Ning

  3. Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Xiaohan Ning & Zhengfan Jiang

  4. Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, 100871, China

    Xiaohan Ning

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  1. Huihui Chen
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  2. Xiaohan Ning
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Correspondence to Zhengfan Jiang.

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Chen, H., Ning, X. & Jiang, Z. Caspases control antiviral innate immunity. Cell Mol Immunol 14, 736–747 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.44

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