The multiple faces of proteinkinase R in antiviral defense

Abstract

Various pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) have been implicated in the detection of viral RNA and subsequent interferon (IFN) gene expression, including the double-stranded RNA-dependent proteinkinase R (PKR). Now, a novel role of PKR has been unveiled, as it was shown that, upon the infection with certain viruses, PKR is crucial for the integrity of newly synthesized IFN mRNA, thereby generating an optimal host antiviral immune response. There is a need of future studies to investigate additional roles of PKR in innate immunity and the molecular understanding of this novel function of PKR.

Keywords: :

• PKR
• IFN mRNA
• innate immunity
• virus infections

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to apologize to all authors whose work was not cited due to space restrictions. This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas 221-2007-935). We would like to thank Michaela U. Gack for critical reading of this manuscript.