IFN-inducible GTPases and immunity to intracellular pathogens.
By eliciting host antimicrobial programs in nearly all nucleated cells interferons (IFNs) help orchestrate the innate immune response of mammals to a diverse array of microbial pathogens. Recent work has highlighted the complexity of this transcriptional repertoire and the emergence of several families of IFN-inducible guanosine 5' triphosphatases (GTPases)--p47, guanylate-binding protein (GBP), Mx and very large inducible GTPases (VLIG)--that subsume pathogen-specific roles. Such specificity arises from a combination of both the type and timing of inductive stimuli, target-cell population, subcellular binding partners and the infectious agent encountered. Evolution of different GTPase families to combat compartmentalized versus cytosolic pathogens reveals a hitherto unexpected level of intracellular discrimination during vertebrate host defense.
MacMicking
John D
JD
Section of Microbial Pathogenesis, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 295 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT 06536, USA. john.macmicking@yale.edu
D000818:Animals; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*
D007372:Interferons; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases