Dissecting innate immunity by germline mutagenesis
- 18 January 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Immunology
- Vol. 123 (4), 459-468
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2567.2007.02786.x
Abstract
The innate arm of our immune system is the first line of defence against infections. In addition, it is believed to drive adaptive immune responses, which help fight pathogens and provide long-term memory. As such, the innate immune system is instrumental for protection against pathogens that would otherwise destroy their host. Although our understanding of the innate immune components involved in pathogen sensing and fighting is improving, it is still limited. This is particularly exemplified by increased documentation of innate immune deficiencies in humans that often result in high and recurrent susceptibility to infections or even death, without the genetic cause being evident. To provide further insight into the mechanisms by which pathogen sensing and eradication occur, several strategies can be used. The current review focuses on the forward genetic approaches that have been used to dissect innate immunity in the fruit fly and the mouse. For both animal models, forward genetics has been instrumental in the deciphering of innate immunity and has greatly improved our understanding of how we respond to invading pathogens.Keywords
This publication has 121 references indexed in Scilit:
- A genome-wide transgenic RNAi library for conditional gene inactivation in DrosophilaNature, 2007
- Dual Detection of Fungal Infections in Drosophila via Recognition of Glucans and Sensing of Virulence FactorsCell, 2006
- Sensing of Gram-positive bacteria in Drosophila: GNBP1 is needed to process and present peptidoglycan to PGRP-SAThe EMBO Journal, 2006
- Pathogen Recognition and Innate ImmunityCell, 2006
- The Unc93b1 mutation 3d disrupts exogenous antigen presentation and signaling via Toll-like receptors 3, 7 and 9Nature Immunology, 2006
- CD36 is a sensor of diacylglyceridesNature, 2005
- TLR9 signals after translocating from the ER to CpG DNA in the lysosomeNature Immunology, 2004
- The Toll‐like receptor 7 (TLR7)‐specific stimulus loxoribine uncovers a strong relationship within the TLR7, 8 and 9 subfamilyEuropean Journal of Immunology, 2003
- Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genomeNature, 2002
- Mutations affecting segment number and polarity in DrosophilaNature, 1980