Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and activate innate immune cells to induce cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules such as CD40 and to enhance antigen presentation to T cells (1) that, upon activation, can either eliminate or support the pathogen (2). Herein, we propose that this duality in TLR functions results from their cross-talk with CD40....

It has been suggested that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in Toll-like receptors (TLRs) pathway may exhibit broad effects on function of this network and might contribute to a range of human diseases. However, the extent to which these variations affect TLR signaling is not well understood. In this study, we adopted a bioinformatics approach to predict the consequences...

The recognition that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease has emphasized the fundamental link between the innate immune system and disease pathogenesis. Atherosclerotic lesions develop at vulnerable locations throughout the vasculature as a result of detection of endogenous or microbial ligands by germ-line encoded pattern recognition receptors, including the innate immune Toll-lik...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs)/NF-κB activation stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was associated with diverse biological response in colon cancer, but the underlying mechanism was largely unknown. In the current study, we reported cell proliferation was elevated in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutated- and APC knockdown cell lines, while the proliferation was inhibited in APC wild-type cel...

TLR ligands are promising candidates for the development of novel vaccine adjuvants that can elicit protective immunity against emerging infectious diseases. Adjuvants have been used most frequently to increase the quantity of an immune response. However, the quality of a T cell response can be more important than its quantity. Stimulating certain pairs of TLRs induces a synergistic response in...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) may need to cooperate with each other to be effective in detecting imminent infection and trigger immune responses. Understanding is still limited about the intracellular mechanism of this cooperation. We found that when certain TLRs are involved, dendritic cells (DCs) establish unidirectional intracellular cross-talk, in which the MyD88-independent TRIF-dependent pat...

Th17 responses have been shown to play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). The mechanism underlying the enhanced Th17 responses in these patients remains largely unclear. Here we investigated toll-like receptors (TLRs) expression in peripheral T cells and their roles in Th17 cell differentiation and disease aggravation i...

A close relationship exists between gut microbiota and immune responses. An imbalance of this relationship can determine local and systemic immune diseases. In fact the immune system plays an essential role in maintaining the homeostasis with the microbiota that normally resides in the gut, while, at the same time, the gut microbiota influences the immune system, modulating number and function ...