IFI16 is an innate immune sensor for intracellular DNA

Andrew G Bowie (1) , Leonie Unterholzner (1) , Sinead E Keating (1) , Marcin Baran (1) , Kristy Amanda Horan (1) , Soren B Jensen (1) , Søren Riis Paludan (1) , Kate A Fitzgerald (1) , Shruti Sharma (1) , Cherilyn M. Sirois (1) , Tengchuan Jin (1) , Tsan Sam Xiao (1) , Eicke El Latz (1)

1 School of Biochemistry and Immunology

The detection of intracellular microbial DNA is critical to an appropriate innate immune response, however current knowledge on how such DNA is sensed is limited. Here we identified IFI16, a PYHIN protein, as an intracellular DNA sensor mediating interferon-β (IFN-β) induction. IFI16 directly associated with IFN-β-inducing viral DNA motifs. STING, a critical mediator of IFN-β responses to DNA, was recruited to IFI16 after DNA stimulation. Reduction of expression of IFI16, or its murine ortholog p204, by RNA interference inhibited DNA- and herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1-induced gene induction and IRF3 and NF-κB activation. IFI16 (p204) is the first PYHIN protein shown to be involved in IFN-β induction. Thus, the PYHIN proteins IFI16 and AIM2 (TRUNCATED)

Mots clés: Innate immunity; Signal transduction; Immunology

Andrew G Bowie, Leonie Unterholzner, Sinead E Keating, Marcin Baran, Kristy Amanda Horan, et al.. IFI16 is an innate immune sensor for intracellular DNA. Nature Immunology, 2010, ⟨10.1038/ni.1932⟩. ⟨hal-00582635⟩