Table 1.

Similarities and differences between pyroptosis, apoptosis, necroptosis and ferroptosis

Characteristics	Pyroptosis	Apoptosis	Necroptosis	Ferroptosis
Programmed cell death	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inducers	Inflammatory cell death, DAMPs, PAMPs, pathgen infection	Gene regulation under physiological conditions	Severe injury, pathological leisions	Fe2+ overload induction and ROS
Key components	Inflammasomes, GSDM protein family, Caspase-1/3/4/5/8/11	HSPs, P53, Bcl-2 protein family, Caspase-2/3/6/7/8/9/10	MLKL, RIPK1/3, TRADD	NRF2, GPX4, SLC7A11, HSPB1/5, FANCD2, ACSL4, GLS2, ALOX15, NCOA4, CARS, VDAC2/3, HSP90
Cell morphology	Plasma membrane rupture, Chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, Nucleus intact, Pore formation, Cell swelling, Osmotic lysis	Plasma membrane blebbing, Chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, Membrane intact, Reduced cellular volume	Plasma membrane rupture, Cytoplasmic and organelle swelling, Moderate chromatin condensation	Decreased mitochondria cristae, Condensed mitochondrial membrane, Ruptured mitochondrial outer membrane
Cell release	Intracellular content, DAMPs(IL-18, IL-1β, dsDNA, ATP, HMGB1)	Usually no release, sometimes DAMPs (dsDNA, HMGB1, ATP, calreticulin)	Intracellular content, DAMPs (IL-1α, IL-33, IL-6, HSPs)	HMGB1