CYCS and acute respiratory distress syndrome: BAX induces apoptosis by creating pores in the mitochondrial membrane facilitating the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol to initiate the cellular apoptosis cascade (Kolliputi and Waxman 2009).In human patients with diffuse alveolar damage, pneumocyte type I and II undergo apoptosis accompanied by DNA fragmentation, which was mediated by BAX and Fas upregulation, especially in acute severe cases; thus, anti-apoptotic therapeutics would be helpful in early ALI to prevent cellular destruction (Matute-Bello and Martin 2003).