ZBP1 and infection: Recent studies have identified Zbp1 as an innate sensor of infections and a target of pathogen evasion strategies in viral infections, parasitic infections, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory diseases.[21, 22, 23, 24, 25] The molecule is activated by sensing host or viral nucleic acids through the nucleic acid domain to induce apoptosis or necrotic apoptosis in host cells, thereby inhibiting viral replication.