Abstract
Inflammation plays indispensable roles in building the immune responses such as acquired immunity against harmful pathogens. Furthermore, it is essential for maintaining biological homeostasis in ever-changing conditions. Pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) reside in cell membranes, endosomes or cytoplasm, and function as triggers for inflammatory responses. Binding of pathogen- or self-derived components, such as DNA, to PRRs activates downstream signaling cascades, resulting in the production of a series of pro-inflammatory cytokines and type I interferons (IFNs). While these series of responses are essential for host defense, the unexpected release of DNA from the nucleus or mitochondria of host cells can lead to autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. In this review, we focus on DNA-sensing mechanisms via PRRs and the disorders and extraordinary conditions caused by self-derived DNA.
Graphical Abstract
Acknowledgments
We thank Chihiro Suzuki for secretarial assistance. We would like to thank Guang Han Ong and Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest. D.O. and T.K. conceptualized the framework of this review article, wrote, corrected, read and finalized the article. D.O. constructed the figures. All authors approved the submitted version of manuscript.