Table 1

The differences between pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis

	Pyroptosis	Apoptosis	Necroptosis
Character	Active PCD	Active PCD	Passive PCD
Inflammation	Yes	No	Yes
Morphology of cell membrane	Cell swelling, membrane rupture, bubble-like protrusions	Cell shrinkage, intact membrane, many vesicles of various sizes	Cell rounding and swelling, membrane rupture
Membrane blebbing	Yes	Yes	No
Membrane integrity	No	Yes	No
DNA damage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chromatin condensation	Yes	Yes	No
Intact nucleus	Yes	No (fragmented)	Yes
Organelle morphology	Deformation	Intact	Swelling
Special constructions	Pyroptotic bodies	Apoptotic bodies	No
Release of intracellular contents	DAMPs, inflammatory molecules	No	DAMPs, inflammatory molecules
Associated molecules	Initiation: Caspase-1, 3, 4, 5, 11. Execution: GSDMD, GSDME	Initiation: Caspase-8, 9, 10. Execution: Caspase-3, 6, 7 Pro-apoptotic members: Bax, Bak, Bok. Anti-apoptotic members: Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, Mcl-1.	Initiation: RIPK1/RIPK3. Execution: MLKL. Inhibitory members: Caspase-8
7-AAD staining	Yes	No	Yes
EtBr staining	Yes	No	Yes
PI staining	Yes	No	Yes
PS exposure	Yes	Yes	Yes
Annexin V staining	Yes	Yes	Yes
TUNEL staining	Yes	Yes	Yes

PCD, programmed cell death; GSDM, gasdermin; EtBr, ethidium bromide; PI, propidium iodide; PS, phosphatidylserine; TUNEL, TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling.