Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Journal Club
  • Published:

PREPRINT WATCH

Repeat elements amplify TLR signaling

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 21, page 760 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Recognition of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) can activate a protective type I interferon response. There is accumulating evidence that transposable elements from the host genome, including endogenous retroviruses, Alu elements and long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs), can also act as PRR ligands upon expression. So far, this has been observed during breach of cellular homeostasis, such as in viral infection, cancer, senescence and in autoimmune diseases. However, the expression of transposable elements has been considered a cause, rather than a consequence, of innate immune activation.

In a recent preprint (not peer reviewed), Rookhuizen et al. make the surprising observation that stimulation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) triggers the expression of transposable elements, and in particular the retrotransposon LINE1. This involves the downregulation of the histone methyltransferase SUV39H1, which marks DNA regions for transcriptional repression. Importantly, by treating mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells with a purified TLR4 ligand, the authors avoided cell stress associated with infection or the use of transformed cell lines, which can impact transposable element expression and confound results.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

Original article

Related article

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OxMS Preprint Journal Club, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Timothy O’Donnell & Nicolas Vabret

Authors
  1. Timothy O’Donnell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicolas Vabret
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Timothy O’Donnell or Nicolas Vabret.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

O’Donnell, T., Vabret, N. Repeat elements amplify TLR signaling. Nat Rev Immunol 21, 760 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-021-00644-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-021-00644-6

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing