Abstract
The innate immune system initiates cell death pathways in response to pathogens and cellular stress. Cell death can be either non-lytic (apoptosis) or lytic (PANoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis). PANoptosis has been identified as an inflammatory, lytic cell death pathway driven by caspases and RIPKs that is regulated by PANoptosome complexes, making it distinct from other cell death pathways. Several PANoptosome complexes (including ZBP1-, AIM2-, RIPK1-, and NLRP12-PANoptosomes) have been characterized to date. Furthermore, PANoptosis is implicated in infectious and inflammatory diseases, cancers, and homeostatic perturbations. Therefore, targeting its molecular components offers significant potential for therapeutic development. This review covers PANoptosomes and their assembly, PANoptosome-mediated cell death mechanisms, and ongoing progress in developing therapeutics that target PANoptosis.