Gasdermin D (GSDMD), a member of the gasdermin family that includes GSDMA, GSDMB, and GSDMC, has been reported to have a critical role as a downstream effector of pyroptosis. Pyroptosis is a lytic type of cell death triggered by inflammasomes, multiprotein complexes assembled in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that result in the activation of caspase-1 and subsequent cleavage of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1? and IL-18. Gasdermin D was identified by two independent groups as a substrate of inflammatory caspases, caspase-1 and caspase-11/4/5, producing two fragments: GSDMD-N and GSDMD-C. Cleavage results in release of an intramolecular inhibitory interaction between the N- and C-terminal domains, allowing the N-terminal fragment GSDMD-N to initiate pyroptosis through the formation of pores on the plasma membrane.