Inflammation is known to play a key role in preterm and term parturition. Cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) is present in the maternal circulation and increases with gestational age and some pregnancy complications (e.g. preterm birth, preeclampsia). Microbial DNA and adult cell-free DNA can be pro-inflammatory through DNA-sensing mechanisms such as Toll-like receptor 9 and the Stimulator of Interf...

A recent paper by Sirois et al. in The Journal of Experimental Medicine reports that the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) promotes uptake of DNA into endosomes and lowers the immune recognition threshold for the activation of Toll-like receptor 9. Two crystal structures suggested that the DNA phosphate-deoxyribose backbone is recognized by RAGE through well-defined interactio...

BACKGROUND Growing studies have revealed the association between polymorphisms in the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and susceptibility to cancer, however, the results remained inconsistent. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To assess the effect of three selected SNPs (rs352140, rs5743836 and rs187084) in TLR9 on cancer, we performed a meta-analysis based on 11 case-control studies, including a tot...