PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Simpson, Stephen J.
TI  - Sensing the End
AID  - 10.1126/stke.4152007tw442
DP  - 2007 Dec 04
TA  - Science's STKE
PG  - tw442--tw442
VI  - 2007
IP  - 415
4099  - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/2007/415/tw442.short
4100  - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/2007/415/tw442.full
SO  - Sci. STKE2007 Dec 04; 2007
AB  - Cellular innate immune sensors detect foreign signals emanating from pathogens. Nallagatla et al. report that the pivotal sensing protein, double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR), is finely tuned to recognize the 5′-triphosphate structures of single-stranded RNA molecules present in many bacteria and viruses. This recognition strategy is similar to the recently described detection of nucleic acid 5′-end signatures by another sensing protein, RIG-I. It remains unclear exactly how these key sensors go on to tailor the most appropriate cellular responses to intracellular pathogens. S. R. Nallagatla, J. Hwang, R. Toroney, X. Zheng, C. E. Cameron, P. C. Bevilacqua, 5′-triphosphate-dependent activation of PKR by RNAs with short stem-loops. Science 318, 1455-1458 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]