Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2008 Jul 7;205(7):1523-7.
doi: 10.1084/jem.20081210.

Differential recognition of double-stranded RNA by RIG-I-like receptors in antiviral immunity

Takeshi Saito  1 , Michael Gale Jr
Affiliations
Comment

Differential recognition of double-stranded RNA by RIG-I-like receptors in antiviral immunity

Takeshi Saito et al. J Exp Med. .

Abstract

Retinoic acid-inducible gene (RIG)-I-like receptors (RLRs) are cytosolic RNA helicases that sense viral RNA and trigger signaling pathways that induce the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and proinflammatory cytokines. RLRs recognize distinct and overlapping sets of viruses, but the mechanisms that dictate this specificity were unknown. A new study now provides evidence for size-based discrimination of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) by RLRs and suggests how host cells recognize a variety of RNA viruses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Nucleic acid sensor molecules induce type I IFN and proinflammatory cytokines. PRRs occupy specific intracellular sites that associate with the niche of different microbial pathogens. MDA5 and RIG-I both serve as cytoplasmic dsRNA receptors but distinguish their ligands in part by size; MDA5 binds to long dsRNA, whereas RIG-I binds short dsRNA. Among the TLRs, TLR3 recognizes dsRNA, TLR7/8 recognizes endosomal ssRNA, and TLR9 binds to endosomal CpG DNA. PRR activation initiates downstream signaling that in turn activates transcription factors, including IRF-3, IRF-7, and NF-κB. The resulting expression of type I IFNs, proinflammatory cytokines, and IFN-stimulated genes affect the innate immune response to confer pathogen resistance and enhance the adaptive immune response to infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Akira, S., S. Uematsu, and O. Takeuchi. 2006. Pathogen recognition and innate immunity. Cell. 124:783–801. - PubMed
    1. de Veer, M.J., M. Holko, M. Frevel, E. Walker, S. Der, J.M. Paranjape, R.H. Silverman, and B.R.G. Williams. 2001. Functional classification of interferon-stimulated genes identified using microarrays. J. Leukoc. Biol. 69:912–920. - PubMed
    1. Stetson, D.B., and R. Medzhitov. 2006. Antiviral defense: interferons and beyond. J. Exp. Med. 203:1837–1841. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Theofilopoulos, A.N., R. Baccala, B. Beutler, and D.H. Kono. 2005. Type I interferons (alpha/beta) in immunity and autoimmunity. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 23:307–336. - PubMed
    1. Marrack, P., J. Kappler, and T. Mitchell. 1999. Type I interferons keep activated T cells alive. J. Exp. Med. 189:521–529. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types