脓毒症是临床危重病患者最常见的死因。我们前期通过脓毒症临床蛋白质组学研究筛选并发现了波状蛋白（Vimentin，VIM）在脓毒症的发生和发展中具有重要作用，但具体机制尚不清楚。本研究拟通过临床实验进一步验证循环中VIM的表达与脓毒症发生发展的不同阶段的关系，以及阐明VIM在免疫细胞（例如淋巴细胞）上的表达与凋亡的关系。另外，利用体外细胞模型，借助过表达和抑制免疫细胞的VIM，深入探究VIM对免疫细胞凋亡与促炎抑炎状态的影响机制，说明VIM在介导免疫细胞凋亡和炎症相关通路中的作用和地位。通过本课题的实施，旨在探索VIM的临床应用价值，从分子水平阐明VIM介导脓毒症时免疫细胞凋亡的相关发生机制，最终确定VIM作为脓毒症诊断和治疗的生物靶标的可行性。

Sepsis is the most common cause of death in the clinical critically ill patients. We have successfully screened the sepsis biomarkers by clinical proteomics approach and found that Vimentin (VIM) played an important role in the occurrence and development of sepsis. However, the exact mechanism is remaining unclear. In this study, the relationship between the changes of peripheral circulation VIM expression and different stages of sepsis development will be further verified in lager clinical trials, as well as the relationship between VIM expression and apoptosis of immune cells (e.g lymphocytes) will also be clarified. More importantly, with the VIM of immune cells overexpressed and inhibited, we will explore the influence of VIM on immune cells in the process of apoptosis and proinflammatory/inflammatory suppression status and its relevant mechanism through the cell model in vitro. This may indicate that the role of VIM in the cell-mediated immunity apoptosis and inflammation-related pathways. Through the implementation of this study, we can clarify the clinical value of VIM and the mechanism of VIM-mediated immune cell apoptosis during the sepsis development from the molecular level, and determine whether the VIM as a new target for sepsis diagnosis and treatment.