Self or non-self? Detection of nucleic acids in the endolysosome

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• Prof. Dr. Veit Hornung, Gene Center Munich
• Thursday 01 May 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, MRC LMB, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH .

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Ruth Paton.

This Cambridge Immunology and Medicine Seminar will take place on Thursday 1 May 2025, starting at 4:00pm, in the Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC)

Speaker: Professor Veit Hornung, Gene Center and Department of Biochemistry, University of Munich

Title: ‘Self or non-self? Detection of nucleic acids in the endolysosome’

Abstract: A central function of our innate immune system is to detect microbial pathogens by the presence of their nucleic acid genomes or their transcriptional or replicative activity. In mammals, a receptor-based system – represented by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) – is primarily responsible for the detection of “non-self” nucleic acids. In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in identifying the key sensing and signaling components required for this complex task. The first group of PRRs identified as nucleic acid sensing receptors are the toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLRs are expressed as transmembrane receptors with their ligand binding domain facing either the extracellular space or the luminal compartment. A distinct evolutionary subset of TLRs is located in the endolysosomal compartment, which in the human system includes TLR7 , TLR8 and TLR9 . While TLR9 recognizes single-stranded DNA with unmethylated CG motifs, which are indeed suppressed in the host genome, TLR7 and TLR8 have evolved to recognize RNA degradation products. Although there has been considerable research on RNA -sensing TLRs, our understanding of their capability to differentiate between non-self and self-RNA remains limited, particularly considering the prevalence of self-RNA in the endolysosomal compartment. In this talk, I will provide an update on our recent work on this topic and present some novel insights into how TLR7 and TLR8 discriminate self from non-self.

Host: Felix Randow, MRC -LMB, Cambridge

Refreshments will be available following the seminar.

This talk is part of the Cambridge Immunology Network Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Cambridge Immunology
• Cambridge Immunology Network Seminar Series
• Cambridge Infectious Disease
• Cambridge Infectious Diseases
• LMB
• Liam
• Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, MRC LMB, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH

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