Caspase-4/11 exacerbates disease severity in SARS–CoV-2 infection by promoting inflammation and immunothrombosis

Significance We report the discovery of fundamental roles for the noncanonical inflammasome molecule Caspase-4/11 in promoting pathological inflammatory and prothrombotic pathways in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV-2) infections. Our work demonstrates that Caspase-11 has a broader role in immune responses beyond its previously appreciated effects in bacterial infections. Further, we show that Caspase-11–deficient mice infected with SARS–CoV-2 fare significantly better in terms of overall illness, lung inflammation, and thrombosis than wild-type (WT) mice, thus implicating Caspase-11 as a new therapeutic target for preventing or treating COVID-19.

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