Medline ® Abstract for Reference 32
of 'Toll-like receptors: Roles in disease and therapy'
32
TI
Species-specific recognition of single-stranded RNA via toll-like receptor 7 and 8.
AU
Heil F, Hemmi H, Hochrein H, Ampenberger F, Kirschning C, Akira S, Lipford G, Wagner H, Bauer S
SO
Science. 2004;303(5663):1526. Epub 2004 Feb 19.
Double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) serves as a danger signal associated with viral infection and leads to stimulation of innate immune cells. In contrast, the immunostimulatory potential of single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) is poorly understood and innate immune receptors for ssRNA are unknown. We report that guanosine (G)- and uridine (U)-rich ssRNA oligonucleotides derived from human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) stimulate dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages to secrete interferon-alpha and proinflammatory, as well as regulatory, cytokines. By using Toll-like receptor (TLR)-deficient mice and genetic complementation, we show that murine TLR7 and human TLR8 mediate species-specific recognition of GU-rich ssRNA. These data suggest that ssRNA represents a physiological ligand for TLR7 and TLR8.
AD
Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München, Trogerstr. 9, D - 81675 Munich, Germany.
PMID