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miR-126, a new modulator of innate immunity

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 11, pages 215–217 (2014)Cite this article

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express intracellular Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 7 and 9 and, once activated, produce large amounts of (anti-viral) type I interferons. As such, pDCs play a key role in the physiopathology of the immune response and in infection, autoimmunity and tumors. In the current issue of Nature Immunology, Agudo and colleagues report that the survival and function of pDCs are modulated by the microRNA miR-126 via the VEGFR2 pathway. These findings unveil the unknown capacity of miR-126—a microRNA that had previously been associated only with angiogenesis—to control pDCs homeostasis, and impose new considerations on the effects on innate immune responses when targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor. (VEGF) signaling pathway for therapeutic purposes.

The immune system has the ability to discriminate between intact and damaged self-components, depending on the cellular localization of the target molecule.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Concetta Ferretti

  2. University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Antonio La Cava

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  1. Concetta Ferretti
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  2. Antonio La Cava
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Correspondence to Antonio La Cava.

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Ferretti, C., La Cava, A. miR-126, a new modulator of innate immunity. Cell Mol Immunol 11, 215–217 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2014.5

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