Toll-like receptors in the induction of the innate immune response

The innate immune response is the first line of defence against infectious disease. The principal challenge for the host is to detect the pathogen and mount a rapid defensive response. A group of proteins that comprise the Toll or Toll-like family of receptors perform this role in vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. This reflects a remarkable conservation of function and it is therefore not surprising that studies of the mechanism by which they act has revealed new and important insights into host defence.     

The innate immune response to bacterial flagellin is mediated by Toll-like receptor 5

The innate immune system recognizes pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are expressed on infectious agents, but not on the host. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize PAMPs and mediate the production of cytokines necessary for the development of effective immunity. Flagellin, a principal component of bacterial flagella, is a virulence factor that is recognized by the innate immune system in organisms as diverse as flies, plants and mammals. Here we report that mammalian TLR5 recognizes bacterial flagellin from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and that activation of the receptor mobilizes the nuclear factor NF-kappaB and stimulates tumour necrosis factor-alpha production. TLR5-stimulating activity was purified from Listeria monocytogenes culture supernatants and identified as flagellin by tandem mass spectrometry. Expression of L. monocytogenes flagellin in non-flagellated Escherichia coli conferred on the bacterium the ability to activate TLR5, whereas deletion of the flagellin genes from Salmonella typhimurium abrogated TLR5-stimulating activity. All known TLRs signal through the adaptor protein MyD88. Mice challenged with bacterial flagellin rapidly produced systemic interleukin-6, whereas MyD88-null mice did not respond to flagellin. Our data suggest that TLR5, a member of the evolutionarily conserved Toll-like receptor family, has evolved to permit mammals specifically to detect flagellated bacterial pathogens.     

Drosophila Toll is activated by Gram-positive bacteria through a circulating peptidoglycan recognition protein.

Microbial infection activates two distinct intracellular signalling cascades in the immune-responsive fat body of Drosophila. Gram-positive bacteria and fungi predominantly induce the Toll signalling pathway, whereas Gram-negative bacteria activate the Imd pathway. Loss-of-function mutants in either pathway reduce the resistance to corresponding infections. Genetic screens have identified a range of genes involved in these intracellular signalling cascades, but how they are activated by microbial infection is largely unknown. Activation of the transmembrane receptor Toll requires a proteolytically cleaved form of an extracellular cytokine-like polypeptide, Sp?tzle, suggesting that Toll does not itself function as a bona fide recognition receptor of microbial patterns. This is in apparent contrast with the mammalian Toll-like receptors and raises the question of which host molecules actually recognize microbial patterns to activate Toll through Sp?tzle. Here we present a mutation that blocks Toll activation by Gram-positive bacteria and significantly decreases resistance to this type of infection. The mutation semmelweis (seml) inactivates the gene encoding a peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP-SA). Interestingly, seml does not affect Toll activation by fungal infection, indicating the existence of a distinct recognition system for fungi to activate the Toll pathway.     

The adaptor molecule TIRAP provides signalling specificity for Toll-like receptors

Mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) function as sensors of infection and induce the activation of innate and adaptive immune responses. Upon recognizing conserved pathogen-associated molecular products, TLRs activate host defence responses through their intracellular signalling domain, the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain, and the downstream adaptor protein MyD88 (refs 1-3). Although members of the TLR and the interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor families all signal through MyD88, the signalling pathways induced by individual receptors differ. TIRAP, an adaptor protein in the TLR signalling pathway, has been identified and shown to function downstream of TLR4 (refs 4, 5). Here we report the generation of mice deficient in the Tirap gene. TIRAP-deficient mice respond normally to the TLR5, TLR7 and TLR9 ligands, as well as to IL-1 and IL-18, but have defects in cytokine production and in activation of the nuclear factor NF-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinases in response to lipopolysaccharide, a ligand for TLR4. In addition, TIRAP-deficient mice are also impaired in their responses to ligands for TLR2, TLR1 and TLR6. Thus, TIRAP is differentially involved in signalling by members of the TLR family and may account for specificity in the downstream signalling of individual TLRs.     

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci exploit antibiotic-induced innate immune deficits

Infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), is a dangerous and costly complication of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. How antibiotic-mediated elimination of commensal bacteria promotes infection by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a fertile area for speculation with few defined mechanisms. Here we demonstrate that antibiotic treatment of mice notably downregulates intestinal expression of RegIIIgamma (also known as Reg3g), a secreted C-type lectin that kills Gram-positive bacteria, including VRE. Downregulation of RegIIIgamma markedly decreases in vivo killing of VRE in the intestine of antibiotic-treated mice. Stimulation of intestinal Toll-like receptor 4 by oral administration of lipopolysaccharide re-induces RegIIIgamma, thereby boosting innate immune resistance of antibiotic-treated mice against VRE. Compromised mucosal innate immune defence, as induced by broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, can be corrected by selectively stimulating mucosal epithelial Toll-like receptors, providing a potential therapeutic approach to reduce colonization and infection by antibiotic-resistant microbes.     

Structural basis for signal transduction by the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domains

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the interleukin-1 receptor superfamily (IL-1Rs) are integral to both innate and adaptive immunity for host defence. These receptors share a conserved cytoplasmic domain, known as the TIR domain. A single-point mutation in the TIR domain of murine TLR4 (Pro712His, the Lps(d) mutation) abolishes the host immune response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and mutation of the equivalent residue in TLR2, Pro681His, disrupts signal transduction in response to stimulation by yeast and gram-positive bacteria. Here we report the crystal structures of the TIR domains of human TLR1 and TLR2 and of the Pro681His mutant of TLR2. The structures have a large conserved surface patch that also contains the site of the Lps(d) mutation. Mutagenesis and functional studies confirm that residues in this surface patch are crucial for receptor signalling. The Lps(d) mutation does not disturb the structure of the TIR domain itself. Instead, structural and functional studies indicate that the conserved surface patch may mediate interactions with the down-stream MyD88 adapter molecule, and that the Lps(d) mutation may abolish receptor signalling by disrupting this recruitment.     

Toll样受体2的研究进展

Toll样受体家族（TOU likereceptors,TLRs）是先天性免疫系统进化过程中形成的非常保守的模式识别受体家族,Toll样受体2（T011-likereceptors2,TLR2）是已经克隆的Toll样受体家族中表达范围最广,识别病原微生物种类最多的成员。它可单独或协同其他Toll样受体家族成员完成对病原体相关分子模式的识别,触发机体对致病微生物的级联免疫应答,尤其是针对细胞毒素的抗炎症反应具有重要的作用,已经成为多种疾病治疗的新靶点。文章对N-SL动物TLR2的分布,结构特征,配体识别,信号转导及其生物学功能的最新研究进展进行了综述。     

Mal (MyD88-adapter-like) is required for Toll-like receptor-4 signal transduction.

The recognition of microbial pathogens by the innate immune system involves Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Different TLRs recognize different pathogen-associated molecular patterns, with TLR-4 mediating the response to lipopolysaccharide from Gram-negative bacteria. All TLRs have a Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain, which is responsible for signal transduction. MyD88 is one such protein that contains a TIR domain. It acts as an adapter, being involved in TLR-2, TLR-4 and TLR-9 signalling; however, our understanding of how TLR-4 signals is incomplete. Here we describe a protein, Mal (MyD88-adapter-like), which joins MyD88 as a cytoplasmic TIR-domain-containing protein in the human genome. Mal activates NF-kappaB, Jun amino-terminal kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1 and -2. Mal can form homodimers and can also form heterodimers with MyD88. Activation of NF-kappaB by Mal requires IRAK-2, but not IRAK, whereas MyD88 requires both IRAKs. Mal associates with IRAK-2 by means of its TIR domain. A dominant negative form of Mal inhibits NF-kappaB, which is activated by TLR-4 or lipopolysaccharide, but it does not inhibit NF-kappaB activation by IL-1RI or IL-18R. Mal associates with TLR-4. Mal is therefore an adapter in TLR-4 signal transduction.     

Protective role of phospholipid oxidation products in endotoxin-induced tissue damage

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an outer-membrane component of Gram-negative bacteria, interacts with LPS-binding protein and CD14, which present LPS to toll-like receptor 4 (refs 1, 2), which activates inflammatory gene expression through nuclear factor kappa B (NF kappa B) and mitogen-activated protein-kinase signalling. Antibacterial defence involves activation of neutrophils that generate reactive oxygen species capable of killing bacteria; therefore host lipid peroxidation occurs, initiated by enzymes such as NADPH oxidase and myeloperoxidase. Oxidized phospholipids are pro-inflammatory agonists promoting chronic inflammation in atherosclerosis; however, recent data suggest that they can inhibit expression of inflammatory adhesion molecules. Here we show that oxidized phospholipids inhibit LPS-induced but not tumour-necrosis factor-alpha-induced or interleukin-1 beta-induced NF kappa B-mediated upregulation of inflammatory genes, by blocking the interaction of LPS with LPS-binding protein and CD14. Moreover, in LPS-injected mice, oxidized phospholipids inhibited inflammation and protected mice from lethal endotoxin shock. Thus, in severe Gram-negative bacterial infection, endogenously formed oxidized phospholipids may function as a negative feedback to blunt innate immune responses. Furthermore, identified chemical structures capable of inhibiting the effects of endotoxins such as LPS could be used for the development of new drugs for treatment of sepsis.     

A role for the C3a anaphylatoxin receptor in the effector phase of asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways and lung mucosa with a strong correlation to atopy and acquired (IgE) immunity. However, many features of bronchial asthma, such as smooth muscle contraction, mucus secretion and recruitment of inflammatory cells, are consistent with the actions of complement anaphylatoxins, in particular C3a and C5a. Complement activation forms a central core of innate immune defence against mucosal bacteria, viruses, fungi, helminths and other pathogens. As a system of 'pattern-recognition molecules', foreign surface antigens and immune complexes lead to a proteolytic cascade culminating in a lytic membrane attack. The anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a are liberated as activation byproducts and are potent pro-inflammatory mediators that bind to specific cell surface receptors and cause leukocyte activation, smooth muscle contraction and vascular permeability. Here we show that in a murine model of allergic airway disease, genetic deletion of the C3a receptor protects against the changes in lung physiology seen after allergen challenge. Furthermore, human asthmatics develop significant levels of ligand C3a following intra-pulmonary deposition of allergen, but not saline. We propose that, in addition to acquired immune responses, the innate immune system and complement (C3a in particular) are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma.     

Recognition of microorganisms and activation of the immune response

The mammalian immune system has innate and adaptive components, which cooperate to protect the host against microbial infections. The innate immune system consists of functionally distinct 'modules' that evolved to provide different forms of protection against pathogens. It senses pathogens through pattern-recognition receptors, which trigger the activation of antimicrobial defences and stimulate the adaptive immune response. The adaptive immune system, in turn, activates innate effector mechanisms in an antigen-specific manner. The connections between the various immune components are not fully understood, but recent progress brings us closer to an integrated view of the immune system and its function in host defence.     

Control of B-cell responses by Toll-like receptors

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) detect microbial infection and have an essential role in the induction of immune responses. TLRs can directly induce innate host defence responses, but the mechanisms of TLR-mediated control of adaptive immunity are not fully understood. Although TLR-induced dendritic cell maturation is required for activation of T-helper (T(H)) cells, the role of TLRs in B-cell activation and antibody production in vivo is not yet known. Here we show that activation and differentiation of T(H) cells is not sufficient for the induction of T-dependent B-cell responses. We find that, in addition to CD4+ T-cell help, generation of T-dependent antigen-specific antibody responses requires activation of TLRs in B cells.     

Lymphoid tissue genesis induced by commensals through NOD1 regulates intestinal homeostasis

Intestinal homeostasis is critical for efficient energy extraction from food and protection from pathogens. Its disruption can lead to an array of severe illnesses with major impacts on public health, such as inflammatory bowel disease characterized by self-destructive intestinal immunity. However, the mechanisms regulating the equilibrium between the large bacterial flora and the immune system remain unclear. Intestinal lymphoid tissues generate flora-reactive IgA-producing B cells, and include Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes, as well as numerous isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs). Here we show that peptidoglycan from Gram-negative bacteria is necessary and sufficient to induce the genesis of ILFs in mice through recognition by the NOD1 (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing 1) innate receptor in epithelial cells, and beta-defensin 3- and CCL20-mediated signalling through the chemokine receptor CCR6. Maturation of ILFs into large B-cell clusters requires subsequent detection of bacteria by toll-like receptors. In the absence of ILFs, the composition of the intestinal bacterial community is profoundly altered. Our results demonstrate that intestinal bacterial commensals and the immune system communicate through an innate detection system to generate adaptive lymphoid tissues and maintain intestinal homeostasis.     

The Shigella flexneri effector OspI deamidates UBC13 to dampen the inflammatory response

Many bacterial pathogens can enter various host cells and then survive intracellularly, transiently evade humoral immunity, and further disseminate to other cells and tissues. When bacteria enter host cells and replicate intracellularly, the host cells sense the invading bacteria as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by way of various pattern recognition receptors. As a result, the host cells induce alarm signals that activate the innate immune system. Therefore, bacteria must modulate host inflammatory signalling and dampen these alarm signals. How pathogens do this after invading epithelial cells remains unclear, however. Here we show that OspI, a Shigella flexneri effector encoded by ORF169b on the large plasmid and delivered by the type ΙΙΙ secretion system, dampens acute inflammatory responses during bacterial invasion by suppressing the tumour-necrosis factor (TNF)-receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6)-mediated signalling pathway. OspI is a glutamine deamidase that selectively deamidates the glutamine residue at position 100 in UBC13 to a glutamic acid residue. Consequently, the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating activity required for TRAF6 activation is inhibited, allowing S. flexneri OspI to modulate the diacylglycerol-CBM (CARD-BCL10-MALT1) complex-TRAF6-nuclear-factor-κB signalling pathway. We determined the 2.0 ? crystal structure of OspI, which contains a putative cysteine-histidine-aspartic acid catalytic triad. A mutational analysis showed this catalytic triad to be essential for the deamidation of UBC13. Our results suggest that S. flexneri inhibits acute inflammatory responses in the initial stage of infection by targeting the UBC13-TRAF6 complex.     

HVEM signalling at mucosal barriers provides host defence against pathogenic bacteria

The herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM), a member of the tumour-necrosis factor receptor family, has diverse functions, augmenting or inhibiting the immune response. HVEM was recently reported as a colitis risk locus in patients, and in a mouse model of colitis we demonstrated an anti-inflammatory role for HVEM, but its mechanism of action in the mucosal immune system was unknown. Here we report an important role for epithelial HVEM in innate mucosal defence against pathogenic bacteria. HVEM enhances immune responses by NF-κB-inducing kinase-dependent Stat3 activation, which promotes the epithelial expression of genes important for immunity. During intestinal Citrobacter rodentium infection, a mouse model for enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection, Hvem?/? mice showed decreased Stat3 activation, impaired responses in the colon, higher bacterial burdens and increased mortality. We identified the immunoglobulin superfamily molecule CD160 (refs 7 and 8), expressed predominantly by innate-like intraepithelial lymphocytes, as the ligand engaging epithelial HVEM for host protection. Likewise, in pulmonary Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, HVEM is also required for host defence. Our results pinpoint HVEM as an important orchestrator of mucosal immunity, integrating signals from innate lymphocytes to induce optimal epithelial Stat3 activation, which indicates that targeting HVEM with agonists could improve host defence.     

Critical role of Toll-like receptor signaling in NK cell activation

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NK cell receptors are the most important receptor superfamilies in innate immunity. TLRs act as the sensor of external pathogens, while NK cells detect alterations in endogenous protein expression on target cells through activating and inhibitory receptors. Accumulating data has demonstrated that TLRs and NK cell receptors can coordinate and regulate each other during immune responses, which contributes to the initiation of innate response and the priming of adaptive responses. TLRs can activate NK cell function directly or with the help of accessory cells in a cytokine or cell-to-cell contact dependent manner. More understanding of the recognition of innate receptors and interactions between them may provide important insights into the design of effective strategies to combat tumor and microbial infections. In this review, we summarize how TLRs and NK cells discriminate the self or non-self components respectively. And importantly, we pay more attention to the role of TLR sig-naling in induction of NK cell activation, responses and the crosstalk between them.     

TLR signalling augments macrophage bactericidal activity through mitochondrial ROS

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential components of the innate immune response against intracellular bacteria and it is thought that professional phagocytes generate ROS primarily via the phagosomal NADPH oxidase machinery. However, recent studies have suggested that mitochondrial ROS (mROS) also contribute to mouse macrophage bactericidal activity, although the mechanisms linking innate immune signalling to mitochondria for mROS generation remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that engagement of a subset of Toll-like receptors (TLR1, TLR2 and TLR4) results in the recruitment of mitochondria to macrophage phagosomes and augments mROS production. This response involves translocation of a TLR signalling adaptor, tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), to mitochondria, where it engages the protein ECSIT (evolutionarily conserved signalling intermediate in Toll pathways), which is implicated in mitochondrial respiratory chain assembly. Interaction with TRAF6 leads to ECSIT ubiquitination and enrichment at the mitochondrial periphery, resulting in increased mitochondrial and cellular ROS generation. ECSIT- and TRAF6-depleted macrophages have decreased levels of TLR-induced ROS and are significantly impaired in their ability to kill intracellular bacteria. Additionally, reducing macrophage mROS levels by expressing catalase in mitochondria results in defective bacterial killing, confirming the role of mROS in bactericidal activity. These results reveal a novel pathway linking innate immune signalling to mitochondria, implicate mROS as an important component of antibacterial responses and further establish mitochondria as hubs for innate immune signalling.     

Recognition of bacterial glycosphingolipids by natural killer T cells

Natural killer T (NKT) cells constitute a highly conserved T lymphocyte subpopulation that has the potential to regulate many types of immune responses through the rapid secretion of cytokines. NKT cells recognize glycolipids presented by CD1d, a class I-like antigen-presenting molecule. They have an invariant T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) alpha-chain, but whether this invariant TCR recognizes microbial antigens is still controversial. Here we show that most mouse and human NKT cells recognize glycosphingolipids from Sphingomonas, Gram-negative bacteria that do not contain lipopolysaccharide. NKT cells are activated in vivo after exposure to these bacterial antigens or bacteria, and mice that lack NKT cells have a marked defect in the clearance of Sphingomonas from the liver. These data suggest that NKT cells are T lymphocytes that provide an innate-type immune response to certain microorganisms through recognition by their antigen receptor, and that they might be useful in providing protection from bacteria that cannot be detected by pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptor 4.