Targeting a specific viral protein triggers inflammatory cell death and may offer a new treatment for acute myeloid leukemia

CRISPR-Cas9-mediated deletion of the HERV-K102 envelope (K-Env) induces apoptosis and pyroptosis in acute myeloid leukemia cells.

• The deletion of K-Env activates the S100A9/NLRP3 inflammasome.
• Concerns exist regarding the evidence for distinguishing pyroptosis from secondary necrosis.
• A mechanistic rescue experiment is needed to confirm S100A9's role as a primary driver.
• The specificity of primers used at the mRNA level raises questions about the findings.
• The immunocompromised xenograft model may not accurately represent immune evasion associated with K-Env.

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