{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T01:58:20Z","timestamp":1792202300861,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Genes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Fas\/FasL-mediated apoptosis is central to immune homeostasis and is implicated in autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). We aimed to compare whole-blood transcriptional levels of CASP8 and CASP3 across ALPS, chronic ITP, and healthy controls. Methods: CASP8 and CASP3 mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR in whole blood from clinically diagnosed ALPS patients, chronic ITP patients, and healthy controls. Results: CASP8 mRNA expression was significantly increased in ALPS and ITP versus controls (p = 0.0009 and p &lt; 0.0001, respectively) and was lower in ALPS than in ITP (p = 0.0265). CASP3 mRNA was also increased in both patient groups versus controls (ALPS: p = 0.0045; ITP: p &lt; 0.0001), with no significant difference between ALPS and ITP (p = 0.1692). Conclusions: ALPS and chronic ITP show distinct CASP8 transcriptional patterns and a shared upregulation of CASP3 at the whole-blood mRNA level. These findings are descriptive and do not directly assess caspase activation or apoptotic pathway activity; further protein- and cell subset-based studies are needed to clarify functional implications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/genes17020206","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T09:41:02Z","timestamp":1770630062000},"page":"206","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["CASP8 and CASP3 mRNA Expression in Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS) and Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5430-6008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Pau","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federico","family":"Rondot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Gambarino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Clemente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina","family":"Calvi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Montanari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1273-3178","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilaria","family":"Galliano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9291-1332","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimiliano","family":"Bergallo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.1016\/j.immuni.2009.01.001","article-title":"The many roles of FAS receptor signaling in the immune system","volume":"30","author":"Strasser","year":"2009","journal-title":"Immunity"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.1038\/nri2115","article-title":"Life and death in peripheral T cells","volume":"7","author":"Krammer","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nat. 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