Antiviral Innate Immunity: Editorial Overview

Mitochondria and antiviral innate immunity.

Mitochondria, dynamic organelles that undergo continuous cycles of fusion and fission, are the powerhouses of eukaryotic cells. Recent research indicates that mitochondria also act as platforms for antiviral immunity in vertebrates. Mitochondrial-mediated antiviral immunity depends on activation of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors signal transduction pathway and the par...

Innate immunity: an overview.

Though sometimes portrayed as "new," the science of innate immunity made its start more than 100 years ago. Recent progress has reflected the application of new methods to old problems. In particular, genetic dissection of innate immune pathways has been pursued with great success in model organisms. This has opened the way to an understanding of innate immune sensing. The effector arm of innat...

Innate immunity of fish (overview).

The innate immune system is the only defence weapon of invertebrates and a fundamental defence mechanism of fish. The innate system also plays an instructive role in the acquired immune response and homeostasis and is therefore equally important in higher vertebrates. The innate system's recognition of non-self and danger signals is served by a limited number of germ-line encoded pattern recogn...

Sensing and Signaling in Antiviral Innate Immunity

Viruses are detected by the innate immune system, leading to the initiation of the anti-viral immune response via the production of type I interferons and inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1. Remarkable progress has been made over the past few years towards understanding the contribution of Toll-like receptors, RIG-I like receptors, NOD-like receptors and HIN-200 family members to vira...

SnapShot: Pathways of Antiviral Innate Immunity