title: JAK kinases are required for the bacterial RNA and poly I:C induced tyrosine phosphorylation of PKR.
abstract: Discriminating the molecular patterns associated with RNA is central to innate immunity. The protein kinase PKR is a cytosolic sensor involved in the recognition of viral dsRNA and triggering interferon-induced signaling. Here, we identified bacterial RNA as a novel distinct pattern recognized by PKR. We show that the tyrosine phosphorylation of PKR induced by either bacterial RNA or poly I:C is impaired in mutant cells lacking TYK2, JAK1, or JAK2 kinases. PKR was found to be a direct substrate for the activated JAKs. Our results indicated that the double-stranded structures of bacterial RNA are required to fully activate PKR. These results suggest that bacterial RNA signaling is analogous in some respects to that of viral RNA and interferons and may have implications in bacterial immunity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Biomolecular Sciences Programme, Laurentian University Sudbury, ON, Canada, P3E 2C6 ; Department of Biology, University of Benghazi Benghazi, Libya.
authors.forename: Farag
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bleiblo
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brabant
authors.forename: Chilakamarti V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Ramana
authors.forename: Tc
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Mazen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Parrillo
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Aseem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar