Toll-like receptor 8-mediated activation of murine plasmacytoid dendritic cells by vaccinia viral DNA.

Abstract

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play a critical role in antiviral immunity through their ability to produce large amounts of type I IFNs. Activation of pDCs upon viral infection has been shown to be dependent on MyD88 and mediated by Toll-like receptors (TLR) 7 and 9, which sense viral ssRNA and CpG DNA, respectively. In this study, we showed that murine pDC recognition of vaccinia virus (VV), a dsDNA virus, was MyD88-dependent but TLR9-independent. Using HEK293 cells transfected with murine TLR7 or TLR8 and a NF-kappaB luciferase reporter, we demonstrated that stimulation of TLR8-, but not TLR7-, transfected cells with either VV or VV DNA resulted in substantial NF-kappaB activation, and that siRNA-mediated knockdown of TLR8 expression in pDCs led to a complete ablation of VV-induced type I IFN production. We further identified that the VV genome was rich in poly(A)/T sequences, and synthetic poly(A) and poly T oligodeoxynucleotides were capable of activating pDCs in a TLR8-dependent manner. In vivo, TLR8-MyD88-dependent pDC activation played a critical role in innate immune control of VV infection. Collectively, our data are unique in demonstrating that TLR8 is required for sensing poly(A)/T-rich DNA in pDCs, and that murine TLR8 is functional in the context of a viral infection.

• Authors: Jennifer Martinez, Xiaopei Huang, Yiping Yang
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 107 Issue 14 Pg. 6442-7 (Apr 06 2010) ISSN: 1091-6490 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 20308556 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• DNA, Viral
• Myd88 protein, mouse
• Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88
• Tlr9 protein, mouse
• Toll-Like Receptor 8
• Toll-Like Receptor 9

Topics

• Animals
• Cells, Cultured
• DNA, Viral (immunology)
• Dendritic Cells (immunology)
• Humans
• Immunity, Innate
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Knockout
• Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 (deficiency, immunology)
• Toll-Like Receptor 8 (immunology)
• Toll-Like Receptor 9 (deficiency, immunology)
• Vaccinia (immunology)
• Vaccinia virus (immunology)