Activation of innate immune antiviral responses by Nod2

  • Nat Immunol. 2009 Oct;10(10):1073-80. doi: 10.1038/ni.1782.
Ahmed Sabbah  1 ,  Te Hung Chang ,  Rosalinda Harnack ,  Victoria Frohlich ,  Kaoru Tominaga ,  Peter H Dube ,  Yan Xiang ,  Santanu Bose
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
PMID: 19701189 DOI: 10.1038/ni.1782
Abstract

Pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs), including Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and RIG-like helicase (RLH) receptors, are involved in innate immune Antiviral responses. Here we show that nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) can also function as a cytoplasmic viral PRR by triggering activation of interferon-regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and production of interferon-beta (IFN-beta). After recognition of a viral ssRNA genome, NOD2 used the adaptor protein MAVS to activate IRF3. Nod2-deficient mice failed to produce interferon efficiently and showed enhanced susceptibility to virus-induced pathogenesis. Thus, the function of NOD2 as a viral PRR highlights the important function of NOD2 in host Antiviral defense mechanisms.