Chemotherapy drugs induce pyroptosis through caspase-3 cleavage of a gasdermin

Chemotherapy drugs can cause pyroptotic cell death by activating caspase-3 to cleave gasdermin E, potentially contributing to their toxicity and adverse effects. The negative side effects of chemotherapy are well documented but the mechanisms behind them are not always known. Feng Shao and colleagues show that chemotherapy drug treatment of gasdermin-E-expressing tumour cells results in a caspase-3-dependent switch from apoptotic to pyroptotic...