Poxviral protein E3-altered cytokine production reveals that DExD/H-box helicase 9 controls Toll-like receptor-stimulated immune responses.

Host pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) detect viruses and other pathogens, inducing production of cytokines that cause inflammation and mobilize cells to control infection. Vaccinia virus (VACV) encodes proteins that antagonize these host innate immune responses, and elucidating the mechanisms of action of these viral proteins helped shed light on PRR signaling mechanisms. The VACV virulence factor E3 is one of the most intensely studied VACV proteins and has multiple effects on host cells, many of which cannot be explained by the currently known cellular targets of E3.

Innate immune recognition of DNA: A recent history.

Innate immune DNA sensing underpins many physiological and pathological responses to DNA, including anti-viral immunity to DNA viruses. Although it has been appreciated for many years that cytosolic DNA can evoke a type I interferon response, it is only within the past decade that the cellular mechanisms responsible for such a response have been defined. Here we review the discoveries that led to an appreciation of the existence of cytosolic DNA sensor proteins, and discuss two key such sensors, cGAS and IFI16, in detail.