GSDMD and infection: Moreover, Ma et al. illustrated that after infection, the nucleocapsid of SARS-CoV-2 could inhibit host pyroptosis and counteract cellular inflammatory responses by blocking the cleavage of GSDMD.385 The nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the GSDMD linker region in infected monocytes and hinders caspase-1-mediated processing of GSDMD, restraining GSDMD cleavage and leading to reduced IL-1β secretion, despite enhanced IL-1β expression at this time.