Persistent infection by high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with cervical carcinoma. Blocking innate immune responses in the cervix is critical for the establishment of persistent infections. Here, we discuss how HPV-16-encoded factors suppress the activity of Toll-like receptor 9, which plays a major role in innate antiviral immune responses.

A recent paper by Sirois et al. in The Journal of Experimental Medicine reports that the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) promotes uptake of DNA into endosomes and lowers the immune recognition threshold for the activation of Toll-like receptor 9. Two crystal structures suggested that the DNA phosphate-deoxyribose backbone is recognized by RAGE through well-defined interactio...

Inflammation is known to play a key role in preterm and term parturition. Cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) is present in the maternal circulation and increases with gestational age and some pregnancy complications (e.g. preterm birth, preeclampsia). Microbial DNA and adult cell-free DNA can be pro-inflammatory through DNA-sensing mechanisms such as Toll-like receptor 9 and the Stimulator of Interf...

BACKGROUND Growing studies have revealed the association between polymorphisms in the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and susceptibility to cancer, however, the results remained inconsistent. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To assess the effect of three selected SNPs (rs352140, rs5743836 and rs187084) in TLR9 on cancer, we performed a meta-analysis based on 11 case-control studies, including a tot...

the insulin-like growth factor i receptor (igf-ir) plays an essential role in the establishment and maintenance of transformed phenotype. interference with the igf-ir pathway by antisense causes reversal of the transformed phenotype in many rodent and human tumor cell lines. we stably transfected the pc-3 human prostate cancer cell line with an igf-ir antisense rna expression plasmid. the numbe...

background: the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease is complex and multifactorial. studies have led to the current concept that toll-like receptors represent key mediators of innate host defense in the intestine, and they are involved in maintaining mucosal as well as commensal homeostasis. we studied the possibility of simvastatin and antagonist of receptors of interleukin-1 for pharmac...