Editor's Summary
20 March 2008
Found in translation
Transcriptional control of interferon-mediated gene expression plays a major role in the activation of the innate immune response, but little is known about the role of translational control — the control exerted at the stage at which mRNA is converted into a protein. Colina et al. show that in mice lacking the translational repressors 4E-BP1 and 4E-BP2, the threshold for eliciting type-I interferon in response to challenge by various viruses is lowered and virus replication is dramatically suppressed. The 4E-BP repressors appear to act by the synthesis of the protein IRF-7, the master regulator of interferon production. By targeting 4E-BP1 and 4E-BP2 with drugs, it may be possible to boost innate immunity against virus infection.
Article: Translational control of the innate immune response through IRF-7
Rodney Colina, Mauro Costa-Mattioli, Ryan J. O. Dowling, Maritza Jaramillo, Lee-Hwa Tai, Caroline J. Breitbach, Yvan Martineau, Ola Larsson, Liwei Rong, Yuri V. Svitkin, Andrew P. Makrigiannis, John C. Bell & Nahum Sonenberg
doi:10.1038/nature06730
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (840K) | Supplementary information
