Monday, July 14, 2008

Toll-like receptors and their role in host resistance to Toxoplasma

Immunol Lett. 2008 Jun 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Toll-like receptors and their role in host resistance to Toxoplasma gondii

Yarovinsky F

Department of Immunology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-9093, United States


Toxoplasma gondii and other apicomplexan parasites are widely distributed obligate intracellular protozoa. A critical host mediator produced in response to T. gondii infection is IL-12. This cytokine is synthesized by dendritic cells, macrophages and neutrophils and plays a pivotal role in the production of IFN-gamma, which in turn activates anti-microbial effector cells. In the past several years, many of the receptors and signaling pathways that link pathogen detection to induction of IL-12 have been identified and characterized. Among these receptors the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family can recognize all classes of pathogens and induce different types of immune responses. In the following review, I summarize the evidence for specific TLR function in host resistance to T. gondii.

PMID: 18617274 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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