Death in the fast lane: what's next for necroptosis?

Necroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that is both mechanistically and morphologically distinct from apoptosis, the canonical mechanism of cell suicide. Although early descriptions of necroptosis date back decades, the last 5 years have seen a proliferation of studies of this process. This surge in interest has included the recent publication of several excellent, in-depth reviews of the literature [Chan FK-M et al. (2014) Annu Rev Immunol 33, 141210135520002; Weinlich R & Green DR (2014) Mol Cell 56, 469-480; Silke J et al. (2015) Nat Immunol 16, 689-697; Linkermann A & Green DR (2014) N Engl J Med 370, 455-465]. Rather than contribute another summary to this well-summarized field, in this Minireview I will briefly discuss key recent findings, then touch on some of the major outstanding questions -the known unknowns - that remain.