Since patients with RA often fail to achieve remission using current immunosuppressive and biologic therapies and side effects from treatment are substantial, the ultimate objective is to utilize these research discoveries that link established susceptibility to RA development with caspase-8/RIPK3 signaling in macrophages and DCs to assist in the development of safer and more effective therapies. Here, RIPK3 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.