Ancient origins of vertebrate-specific innate antiviral immunity.

ABSTRACT: Animals deploy various molecular sensors to detect pathogen infections. RIG-like receptor (RLR) proteins identify viral RNAs and initiate innate immune responses. The three human RLRs recognize different types of RNA molecules and protect against different viral pathogens. The RLR protein family is widely thought to have originated shortly before the emergence of vertebrates and rapidly diversified through a complex process of domain grafting. Contrary to these findings, here we show that full-length RLRs and their downstream signaling molecules were present in the earliest animals, suggesting that the RLR-based immune system arose with the emergence of multicellularity. Functional differentiation of RLRs occurred early in animal evolution via simple gene duplication followed by modificati

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3879448 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature