CASP12 and Sepsis: Compared with the sham group, the lungs of WT mice with sepsis-associated ALI had significantly increased levels of the chaperone protein BiP (1.8-fold), phosphorylated (activated) ER stress sensor pIRE1α (1.9-fold), spliced (activated) transcription factor sXBP1 (1.7-fold), and pro-apoptotic components CHOP (1.6-fold) and cleaved (activated) caspase-12 (1.3-fold) (Fig. 3A–E).