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Projekt Druckansicht

RNA modification in immune evasion and immune recognition

Fachliche Zuordnung Immunologie
Förderung Förderung von 2009 bis 2012
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 115690894
 
Erstellungsjahr 2015

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

RNA has various immunoregulatory properties. Bacterial and viral RNA triggers pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptor (TLR)-7, TLR8, TLR13 or RNA-helicases such as RIG-I. In contrast, endogenous self-RNA is usually not immunostimulatory due to RNA-modifications (e.g. base or ribose methylation) but gains immunostimulatory capacity upon RNase digestion. In this project, we addressed the question if RNA methylation is exploited by pathogens to evade immune recognition via pattern recognition receptors. We could demonstrate that 2’O methylation of a conserved guanosine in transfer RNA and a specific adenosine base methylation in bacterial 23s ribosomal RNA negatively modulates RNA immune recognition via TLR7 or TLR13, respectively. These observations support the view that specific RNA modifications may help to evade immune recognition by certain TLRs. In addition, we have identified a RNA sequence from the ITS2 region of human ribosomal RNA that efficiently activates RIG-I in a 5’-triphosphate independent manner. This observation defines a new ligand for RIG-I with the potential as immune adjuvant or therapeutic agent.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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