Virulence factor-triggered innate immune sensing

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Talk abstract:

Pathogens use virulence factors to inhibit the immune system. The guard hypothesis postulates that hosts monitor (or ‘guard’) critical innate immune pathways such that their disruption by virulence factors provokes a secondary immune response. Though long-appreciated in plants, the importance of guard immunity in mammals is less clear. We have described the ‘self-guarded’ MORC3-immune-pathway, in which guarding and guarded functions are combined in one protein. MORC3 is a direct antiviral restriction factor —thus, DNA viruses degrade MORC3 to evade restriction. However, MORC3 has a secondary function as a negative regulator of type I interferon (IFN). Consequently, the anti-viral IFN response is unleashed upon viral degradation of MORC3. This bi-functionality creates a molecular dead-man's switch, a self-monitoring, self-insured immune pathway. In addition to providing evidence for the importance of guard immunity in mammals, we postulate that self-guarded bi-functional pathways might be a common feature of multi-layered innate immune systems of animals.