The ability to distinguish pathogens from self-antigens is one of the most important functions of the immune system. However, this simple self versus non-self assignment belies the complexity of the immune response to threats. Immune responses vary widely and appropriately according to a spectrum of threats and only recently have the mechanisms for controlling this highly textured process emerg...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of proteins playing important roles in host defense. Mice defective of functional TLR4 are hyporesponsive to LPS, suggesting that TLR4 is essential for LPS signaling. Here we report the cloning of an alternatively spliced mouse TLR4 (mTLR4) mRNA. The additional exon exists between the second and third exon of the reported mTLR4 gene and contains an in-fra...

Background and purpose - Although the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) is not well understood, chondrocyte-mediated inflammatory responses (triggered by the activation of innate immune receptors by damage-associated molecules) are thought to be involved. We examined the relationship between Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and OA in cartilage from 2 joints differing in size and mechanical loading:...

toll like receptors (tlrs) recognize pathogens and generate an immediate defense response by inducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which rapidly destroy or limit the pathogens. in their bridging role, tlr downstream signals link innate and adaptive immunity, particularly by mediating dc maturation and activation of pathogen specific t lymphocytes. these pathways lead to the act...

Background: Hepatic encephalopathy is defined as a neuropsychiatric brain dysfunction in acute or chronic liver failure. Infection and inflammation have crucial role in its pathophysiology. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate the relationship between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression and the encephalopathy induced with endotoxin in biliary cirrhotic rats. Methods: The present stud...

Dicer-2 is the central player for small interfering RNA biogenesis in the Drosophila RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. Intriguingly, we found that Dicer-2 has an unconventional RNAi-independent function that positively modulates Toll immune signaling, which defends against Gram-positive bacteria, fungi, and some viruses, in both cells and adult flies. The loss of Dicer-2 expression makes fruit f...

Toll receptors play an important role in the innate immunity of invertebrates. All reported Tolls have only one Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain at the C-terminal. In this study, numerous Tolls with tandem TIRs at the C-terminal were found in molluscs. Such Tolls presented an extra TIR (TIR-1) compared with Toll-I. Thus, Toll-I might be the ancestor of tandem TIRs containing Toll. To te...

Host resistance to the intracellular protozoan Leishmania major is highly dependent on IL-12 production by APCs. Genetically resistant C57BL/6 mice develop IL-12-mediated Th1 immune response dominated by IFN-gamma and exhibit only small cutaneous lesions that resolve spontaneously. In contrast, because of several genetic differences, BALB/c mice develop an IL-4-mediated Th2 immune response and ...

The Toll family of transmembrane proteins participates in signaling infection during the innate immune response. We analyzed the nine Drosophila Toll proteins and found that wild-type Toll-9 behaves similar to gain-of-function Toll-1. Toll-9 activates strongly the expression of drosomycin, and utilizes similar signaling components to Toll-1 in activating the antifungal gene. The predicted prote...