BACKGROUND The life of any organism depends on the ability of cells to accurately
recognize and eliminate harmful microbes. To detect the immense repertoire of pathogenic …

Detection of microbial DNA is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that alerts the host
immune system to mount a defense response to microbial infections. However, this detection …

Dissection of the genetic basis of Aicardi–Goutières syndrome has highlighted a
fundamental link between nucleic acid metabolism, innate immune sensors and type I …

Objectives Familial chilblain lupus is a monogenic form of cutaneous lupus erythematosus
caused by loss-of-function mutations in the nucleases TREX1 or SAMHD1. In a family …

Hypomorphic mutations in the DNA repair enzyme RNase H2 cause the neuroinflammatory
autoimmune disorder Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS). Endogenous nucleic acids are …

Recognition of pathogen-derived foreign nucleic acids is central to innate immune defense.
This requires discrimination between structurally highly similar self and nonself nucleic acids …

Recognition of pathogen-derived nucleic acids by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) is
essential for eliciting antiviral immune responses by inducing the production of type I …

In contrast to CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases, CRISPR base editors (BE) and prime editors (PE)
enable predefined nucleotide exchanges in genomic sequences without generating DNA …

Inappropriate or chronic detection of self nucleic acids by the innate immune system
underlies many human autoimmune diseases. We discuss here an unexpected source of …

Type I interferons (IFNs) play a central role in the immune defense against viral infections.
Type I IFN activation is induced by pattern-recognition receptors of the innate immune …