Abstract:Pyroptosis is another form of programmed cell death different from apoptosis and necrosis, which is executed by Gasdermin protein. Upon inflammasome activation, GSDMD is cleavaged by activated Caspase-1/4/5/11 and the released N-terminal fragment of GSDMD refolds and oligomerizes to form a hole with a diameter of 10-15nm in the cell membrane, which promotes inflammatory substances release and cell swelling and death. In addition, other proteases can also cleave and activate Gasdermin proteins in an inflammasome independent way to mediate the occurrence of pyroptosis. Pyroptosis has been widely reported to participate in the occurrence and development of various inflammatory diseases. This article summarizes the characteristics of pyroptosis, molecular mechanism, and associated disease, as well as therapeutic strategies.