Toll-like receptors: key players in antiviral immunity

Curr Opin Virol. 2011 Dec;1(6):447-54. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2011.10.006. Epub 2011 Oct 28.

Abstract

TLRs are a family of innate receptors whose specificities are predetermined in the germline. Therefore, TLRs have evolved to recognize conserved features of microbes. Viruses typically lack the conserved features common to other pathogen classes, so the innate immune system has evolved to recognize viral nucleic acid as a hallmark of viral infection. In this review we discuss examples of TLR-mediated viral recognition and the functional consequences of this recognition for antiviral immunity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Innate / immunology*
  • Interferon Type I / immunology
  • Nucleic Acids / immunology
  • Signal Transduction
  • Toll-Like Receptors / immunology*
  • Virus Diseases / immunology*
  • Virus Diseases / virology
  • Viruses / immunology*

Substances

  • Interferon Type I
  • Nucleic Acids
  • Toll-Like Receptors