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Publications (7)44.09 Total impact

  • Article: Toll-like receptor 3 recognizes incomplete stem structures in single-stranded viral RNA.
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    ABSTRACT: Endosomal Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) serves as a sensor of viral infection and sterile tissue necrosis. Although TLR3 recognizes double-stranded RNA, little is known about structural features of virus- or host-derived RNAs that activate TLR3 in infection/inflammatory states. Here we demonstrate that poliovirus-derived single-stranded RNA segments harbouring stem structures with bulge/internal loops are potent TLR3 agonists. Functional poliovirus-RNAs are resistant to degradation and efficiently induce interferon-α/β and proinflammatory cytokines in human and mouse cells in a TLR3-dependent manner. The N- and C-terminal double-stranded RNA-binding sites of TLR3 are required for poliovirus-RNA-mediated TLR3 activation. Like polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid, a synthetic double-stranded RNA, these RNAs are internalized into cells via raftlin-mediated endocytosis and colocalized with TLR3. Raftlin-associated RNA uptake machinery and the TLR3 RNA-sensing system appear to recognize an appropriate topology of multiple RNA duplexes in poliovirus-RNAs. Hence, TLR3 is a sensor of extracellular viral/host RNA with stable stem structures derived from infection or inflammation-damaged cells.
    Nature Communications 05/2013; 4:1833. · 7.40 Impact Factor
  • Article: Herpes simplex encephalitis in children with autosomal recessive and dominant TRIF deficiency.
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    ABSTRACT: Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is the most common sporadic viral encephalitis of childhood. Autosomal recessive (AR) UNC-93B and TLR3 deficiencies and autosomal dominant (AD) TLR3 and TRAF3 deficiencies underlie HSE in some children. We report here unrelated HSE children with AR or AD TRIF deficiency. The AR form of the disease was found to be due to a homozygous nonsense mutation that resulted in a complete absence of the TRIF protein. Both the TLR3- and the TRIF-dependent TLR4 signaling pathways were abolished. The AD form of disease was found to be due to a heterozygous missense mutation, resulting in a dysfunctional protein. In this form of the disease, the TLR3 signaling pathway was impaired, whereas the TRIF-dependent TLR4 pathway was unaffected. Both patients, however, showed reduced capacity to respond to stimulation of the DExD/H-box helicases pathway. To date, the TRIF-deficient patients with HSE described herein have suffered from no other infections. Moreover, as observed in patients with other genetic etiologies of HSE, clinical penetrance was found to be incomplete, as some HSV-1-infected TRIF-deficient relatives have not developed HSE. Our results provide what we believe to be the first description of human TRIF deficiency and a new genetic etiology for HSE. They suggest that the TRIF-dependent TLR4 and DExD/H-box helicase pathways are largely redundant in host defense. They further demonstrate the importance of TRIF for the TLR3-dependent production of antiviral IFNs in the CNS during primary infection with HSV-1 in childhood.
    The Journal of clinical investigation 11/2011; 121(12):4889-902. · 15.39 Impact Factor
  • Article: Raftlin Is Involved in the Nucleocapture Complex to Induce Poly(I:C)-mediated TLR3 Activation
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    ABSTRACT: The double-stranded RNA analog, poly(I:C), extracellularly activates both the endosomal Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and the cytoplasmic RNA helicase, melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5, leading to the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and inflammatory cytokines. The mechanism by which extracellular poly(I:C) is delivered to TLR3-positive organelles and the cytoplasm remains to be elucidated. Here, we show that the cytoplasmic lipid raft protein, Raftlin, is essential for poly(I:C) cellular uptake in human myeloid dendritic cells and epithelial cells. When Raftlin was silenced, poly(I:C) failed to enter cells and induction of IFN-β production was inhibited. In addition, cellular uptake of B-type oligodeoxynucleotide that shares its uptake receptor with poly(I:C) was suppressed in Raftlin knockdown cells. Upon poly(I:C) stimulation, Raftlin was translocated from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane where it colocalized with poly(I:C), and thereafter moved to TLR3-positive endosomes. Thus, Raftlin cooperates with the uptake receptor to mediate cell entry of poly(I:C), which is critical for activation of TLR3.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry 03/2011; 286(12):10702-10711. · 4.77 Impact Factor
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    Article: UNC93B1 physically associates with human TLR8 and regulates TLR8-mediated signaling.
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    ABSTRACT: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 3, 7, 8, and 9 are localized to intracellular compartments where they encounter foreign or self nucleic acids and activate innate and adaptive immune responses. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident membrane protein, UNC93B1, is essential for intracellular trafficking and endolysosomal targeting of TLR7 and TLR9. TLR8 is phylogenetically and structurally related to TLR7 and TLR9, but little is known about its localization or function. In this study, we demonstrate that TLR8 localized to the early endosome and the ER but not to the late endosome or lysosome in human monocytes and HeLa transfectants. UNC93B1 physically associated with human TLR8, similar to TLRs 3, 7, and 9, and played a critical role in TLR8-mediated signaling. Localization analyses of TLR8 tail-truncated mutants revealed that the transmembrane domain and the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain were required for proper targeting of TLR8 to the early endosome. Hence, although UNC93B1 participates in intracellular trafficking and signaling for all nucleotide-sensing TLRs, the mode of regulation of TLR localization differs for each TLR.
    PLoS ONE 01/2011; 6(12):e28500. · 4.09 Impact Factor
  • Article: Raftlin is involved in the nucleocapture complex to induce poly(I:C)-mediated TLR3 activation.
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    ABSTRACT: The double-stranded RNA analog, poly(I:C), extracellularly activates both the endosomal Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and the cytoplasmic RNA helicase, melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5, leading to the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and inflammatory cytokines. The mechanism by which extracellular poly(I:C) is delivered to TLR3-positive organelles and the cytoplasm remains to be elucidated. Here, we show that the cytoplasmic lipid raft protein, Raftlin, is essential for poly(I:C) cellular uptake in human myeloid dendritic cells and epithelial cells. When Raftlin was silenced, poly(I:C) failed to enter cells and induction of IFN-β production was inhibited. In addition, cellular uptake of B-type oligodeoxynucleotide that shares its uptake receptor with poly(I:C) was suppressed in Raftlin knockdown cells. Upon poly(I:C) stimulation, Raftlin was translocated from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane where it colocalized with poly(I:C), and thereafter moved to TLR3-positive endosomes. Thus, Raftlin cooperates with the uptake receptor to mediate cell entry of poly(I:C), which is critical for activation of TLR3.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry 01/2011; 286(12):10702-11. · 4.77 Impact Factor
  • Article: A molecular mechanism for Toll-IL-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor molecule-1-mediated IRF-3 activation.
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    ABSTRACT: The Toll-IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain-containing adaptor molecule-1 (TICAM-1, also called TRIF) is a signaling adaptor for TLR3 and TLR4 that activates the transcription factors IRF-3, NF-kappaB, and AP-1, leading to induction of type I interferon and cytokines. The N-terminal region of TICAM-1 participates in IRF-3 activation, although the C-terminal region is involved in NF-kappaB activation. However, the mechanism by which TICAM-1 is activated and transmits signals is largely unknown. In this study, we identified Leu(194) as a critical amino acid for TICAM-1-mediated IRF-3 activation. When Leu(194) was substituted with Ala, the mutant TICAM-1 failed to recruit the IRF-3 kinase TBK1, resulting in lack of IRF-3 phosphorylation, although TRAF3 and NAP1 appeared to be recruited. The N-terminal 176 amino acids of TICAM-1 (N-terminal domain (NTD)) form a protease-resistant structural domain. A TICAM-1 mutant lacking the N-terminal 180 amino acids showed greater interferon-beta promoter activation than wild-type TICAM-1. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation and protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that the NTD interacted with the N terminus of TICAM-1-TIR. These results suggest that the NTD folds into the TIR domain structure to maintain the naive conformation of TICAM-1. Upon stimulation of TLR3/4, TICAM-1 oligomerizes through the TIR domain and the C-terminal region, which may break the intramolecular association and induce a conformational change that allows TBK1 access to TICAM-1.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry 04/2010; 285(26):20128-36. · 4.77 Impact Factor
  • Article: Direct binding of TRAF2 and TRAF6 to TICAM-1/TRIF adaptor participates in activation of the Toll-like receptor 3/4 pathway.
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    ABSTRACT: Using yeast two-hybrid screening, we found three TRAF proteins TRAF1, 2 and 6, bound the N-terminal region of the TLR3/4 adaptor TICAM-1 (TRIF). TRAF2, a newly identified TICAM-1-binding protein, bound the PxQxS motif (aa 333-338) of TICAM-1 using mutagenesis by alanine substitutions. TICAM-1 is known to induce the activation of NF-kappaB and IRF-3, which leads to activation of the interferon (IFN)-beta promoter, an activity that is conserved in the N+TIR fragment (aa 1-533). By mutation of the two distinct binding sites for TRAF2 and TRAF6 in N+TIR TICAM-1, the induction of IFN-beta was completely abrogated. Although the TRAF2 site single mutation only marginally affected TICAM-1-mediated type I IFN induction, it further impaired the function of the TRAF6 site mutant. Moreover, double point mutations of the TRAF2 and TRAF6 binding motifs in TICAM-1 N+TIR reduced the activation of IRF-3 and NF-kappaB, the critical transcription factors for IFN-beta expression. Furthermore, TRAF2/6 functioned as an E3 ligase to induce K63-mediated ubiquitination on N+TIR which was abrogated in the mutant lacking the TRAF2/6 sites in parallel with IFN-inducing activity. Confocal microscopy analysis indicated that TRAF2 and TRAF6 merged with oligomerized (i.e. activated) TICAM-1 N+TIR. However, TRAF3, which is another TRAF family member essential for TLR3-mediated type-I IFN signaling, still assembled in the mutant lacking the TRAF2/6 sites. Our data suggest that the binding of TRAF2 and TRAF6 to TICAM-1 cooperatively activates the IFN-inducing pathway through ubiquitination of TICAM-1, a modification which occurs unrelated to TRAF3 recruitment in the TICAM-1 signaling complex. TRAF2/6 may participate in TICAM-1-mediated IFN-beta induction besides TRAF3.
    Molecular Immunology 03/2010; 47(6):1283-91. · 2.90 Impact Factor