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]