Toll-Like Receptor 3: Involvement with Exogenous and Endogenous RNA

Abstract

The recognition of pathogens is assigned to an evolutionarily conserved family of receptors, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs). The investigation of RNA-based immunology has been reinvigorated with the observation that TLR3s interact with RNA (dsRNA of viral origin, poly (I:C) and endogenous RNA). Many RNAs, therefore, join the list of endogenous ligands for TLRs. The further finding that nucleoside modification alters RNA-mediated TLR signaling presents a mechanism for the long-observed differences in immunogenicity. The involvement of RNA modification in the pathogenesis of diseases, and its implications in the therapeutics, are still being studied, and will have important implications in the future.

Keywords :

• TLR3
• RNA
• Poly (I:C)
• immune cells

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação Araucária do Paraná (FAP)- PPSUS, and the Coordenadoria de Pós-Graduação, Londrina State University, PROPPG-UEL. The entire article was revised by a British-born scientific text editor.