IER3 and Sepsis: Other examples of sepsis eQTL that we identified and were relevant to sepsis pathogenesis included MLKL (necroptosis), NLRC5 (regulation of the major histocompatibility complex), HSPA1B (heat shock), IER3 (protection from apoptosis37), CTSC (granule-mediated apoptosis and antiviral protection38), and PADI4 (initiates neutrophil NETosis in sepsis, promoting host defence39).