Abstract
Interferons (IFNs) are critical for protection from viral infection, but the pathways linking virus recognition to IFN induction remain poorly understood. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells produce vast amounts of IFN- in response to the wild-type influenza virus. Here, we show that this requires endosomal recognition of influenza genomic RNA and signaling by means of Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) and MyD88. Single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) molecules of nonviral origin also induce TLR7-dependent production of inflammatory cytokines. These results identify ssRNA as a ligand for TLR7 and suggest that cells of the innate immune system sense endosomal ssRNA to detect infection by RNA viruses.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1529 - 1531 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 303 |
Issue number | 5663 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Mar 2004 |