Interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) products take on a number of diverse roles. Collectively, they are highly effective at resisting and controlling pathogens. In this review, we begin by introducing interferon (IFN) and the JAK-STAT signaling pathway to highlight features that impact ISG production. Next, we describe ways in which ISGs both enhance innate pathogen-sensing capabilities and negatively regulate signaling through the JAK-STAT pathway. Several ISGs that directly inhibit virus infection are described with an emphasis on those that impact early and late stages of the virus life cycle. Finally, we describe ongoing efforts to identify and characterize antiviral ISGs, and we provide a forward-looking perspective on the ISG landscape.

Interferon-Stimulated Genes: A Complex Web of Host Defenses

The recognition of microbial nucleic acids is a major mechanism by which the immune system detects pathogens. Cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) is a cytosolic DNA sensor that activates innate immune responses through production of the second messenger cGAMP, which activates the adaptor STING. The cGAS-STING pathway not only mediates protective immune defense against infection by a large variety of DNA-containing pathogens but also detects tumor-derived DNA and generates intrinsic antitumor immunity. However, aberrant activation of the cGAS pathway by self DNA can also lead to autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Thus, the cGAS pathway must be properly regulated. Here we review the recent advances in understanding of the cGAS-STING pathway, focusing on the regulatory mechanisms and roles of this pathway in heath and disease.

Regulation and function of the cGAS-STING pathway of cytosolic DNA sensing

During virus infection, the adaptor proteins MAVS and STING transduce signals from the cytosolic nucleic acid sensors RIG-I and cGAS, respectively, to induce type I interferons (IFNs) and other antiviral molecules. Here we show that MAVS and STING harbor two conserved serine and threonine clusters that are phosphorylated by the kinases IKK and/or TBK1 in response to stimulation. Phosphorylated MAVS and STING then bind to a positively charged surface of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and thereby recruit IRF3 for its phosphorylation and activation by TBK1. We further show that TRIF, an adaptor protein in Toll-like receptor signaling, activates IRF3 through a similar phosphorylation-dependent mechanism. These results reveal that phosphorylation of innate adaptor proteins is an essential and conserved mechanism that selectively recruits IRF3 to activate the type I IFN pathway.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/early/2015/01/28/science.aaa2630.full.pdf

Phosphorylation of innate immune adaptor proteins MAVS, STING, and TRIF induces IRF3 activation

Receptors of the innate immune system detect conserved determinants of microbial and viral origin. Activation of these receptors initiates signaling events that culminate in an effective immune response. Recently, the view that innate immune signaling events rely on and operate within a complex cellular infrastructure has become an important framework for understanding the regulation of innate immunity. Compartmentalization within this infrastructure provides the cell with the ability to assign spatial information to microbial detection and regulate immune responses. Several cell biological processes play a role in the regulation of innate signaling responses; at the same time, innate signaling can engage cellular processes as a form of defense or to promote immunological memory. In this review, we highlight these aspects of cell biology in pattern-recognition receptor signaling by focusing on signals that originate from the cell surface, from endosomal compartments, and from within the cytosol.

http://kaganlab.com/pdfs/2014_Kagan_Bonham_Brubaker_Zanoni.pdf

Innate immune pattern recognition: a cell biological perspective.

Trex1 is an exonuclease that degrades cytosolic DNA and has been associated with modulation of interferon responses in autoimmunity and viral infections. Here, the authors show that Trex1 attenuates the immunogenicity of cancer cells treated with high radiation doses by d…

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DNA exonuclease Trex1 regulates radiotherapy-induced tumour immunogenicity.

Retroviruses, including HIV, can activate innate immune responses, but the host sensors for retroviruses are largely unknown. Here we show that HIV infection activates cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) to produce cGAMP, which binds to and activates the adaptor protein STING to induce type I interferons and other cytokines. Inhibitors of HIV reverse transcriptase, but not integrase, abrogated interferon-β induction by the virus, suggesting that the reverse-transcribed HIV DNA triggers the innate immune response. Knockout or knockdown of cGAS in mouse or human cell lines blocked cytokine induction by HIV, murine leukemia virus, and simian immunodeficiency virus. These results indicate that cGAS is an innate immune sensor of HIV and other retroviruses.

/pdf/cyclic-gmp-amp-synthase-is-an-innate-immune-sensor-of-hiv-27koayxjys.pdf

Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase Is an Innate Immune Sensor of HIV and Other Retroviruses

RNA virus infections are detected by the RIG-I family of receptors, which induce type-I interferons through the mitochondrial protein MAVS. MAVS forms large prion-like polymers that activate the cytosolic kinases IKK and TBK1, which in turn activate NF-κB and IRF3, respectively, to induce interferons. Here we show that MAVS polymers recruit several TRAF proteins, including TRAF2, TRAF5, and TRAF6, through distinct TRAF-binding motifs. Mutations of these motifs that disrupted MAVS binding to TRAFs abrogated its ability to activate IRF3. IRF3 activation was also abolished in cells lacking TRAF2, 5, and 6. These TRAF proteins promoted ubiquitination reactions that recruited NEMO to the MAVS signaling complex, leading to the activation of IKK and TBK1. These results delineate the mechanism of MAVS signaling and reveal that TRAF2, 5, and 6, which are normally associated with NF-κB activation, also play a crucial role in IRF3 activation in antiviral immune responses. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00785.001.

/pdf/mavs-recruits-multiple-ubiquitin-e3-ligases-to-activate-2nk8xi78ny.pdf

You Tong Wu

Papers

Phosphorylation of innate immune adaptor proteins MAVS, STING, and TRIF induces IRF3 activation

Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase Is an Innate Immune Sensor of HIV and Other Retroviruses

MAVS recruits multiple ubiquitin E3 ligases to activate antiviral signaling cascades