Innate immunity mediated by TLR5 as a novel antiinflammatory target for cystic fibrosis lung disease.

Novel therapies to target lung inflammation are predicted to improve the lives of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) but specific antiinflammatory targets have not been identified. The goal of this study was to establish whether TLR5 signaling is the key molecular pathway mediating lung inflammation in CF, and to determine whether strategies to inhibit TLR5 can reduce the damaging inflammatory response. The innate immune responses were analyzed in both airway epithelial cells and primary PBMCs from CF patients and matched controls.