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Toward a structural understanding of nucleic acid‐sensing Toll‐like receptors in the innate immune system
Author(s) -
Zhang Zhikuan,
Ohto Umeharu,
Shimizu Toshiyuki
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1002/1873-3468.12749
Subject(s) - innate immune system , nucleic acid , toll , receptor , toll like receptor , immune system , immune receptor , chemistry , pattern recognition receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , immunology , biochemistry
The history of mankind has been plagued by the tug of war with viral infections. Toll‐like receptors ( TLR s) and other receptors of the innate immune system constitute an early defense system against invading viruses by recognizing the viral genetic material, the nucleic acids ( NA s). Agonistic ligands of NA ‐sensing TLR s play an emerging role in the treatment of viral diseases, demonstrating a crucial role of these receptors. Recently, crystal structures have afforded new insights into TLR recognition of NA s. An aberrant activation by self‐ NA s, which leads to the inflammation and autoimmunity, is avoided by strict regulation of NA – TLR interaction at multiple check‐points. This Review summarizes the novel structural understanding of NA ‐sensing by TLR s and regulatory mechanisms of these receptors.