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1: Nat Immunol. 2002 Feb;3(2):196-200. Epub 2002 Jan 22.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Nat Immunol. 2002 Jun;3(6):499.

Small anti-viral compounds activate immune cells via the TLR7 MyD88-dependent signaling pathway.

Hemmi H, Kaisho T, Takeuchi O, Sato S, Sanjo H, Hoshino K, Horiuchi T, Tomizawa H, Takeda K, Akira S.

Department of Host Defense, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

The imidazoquinoline compounds imiquimod and R-848 are low-molecular-weight immune response modifiers that can induce the synthesis of interferon-alpha and other cytokines in a variety of cell types. These compounds have potent anti-viral and anti-tumor properties; however, the mechanisms by which they exert their anti-viral activities remain unclear. Here we show that the imidazoquinolines activate immune cells via the Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7)-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway. In response to the imidazoquinolines, neither MyD88- nor TLR7-deficient mice showed any inflammatory cytokine production by macrophages, proliferation of splenocytes or maturation of dendritic cells. Imidazoquinoline-induced signaling events were also abolished in both MyD88- and TLR7-deficient mice.

PMID: 11812998 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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