Intracellular sensing of viral genomes and viral evasion

Abstract

Viral infection: Evasion strategies subvert antiviral defenses Viruses escape the body’s immune surveillance mechanisms by manipulating and subverting key intracellular sensors of viral RNA or DNA. In a review article, Jong-Soo Lee and colleagues from Chungnam National University in Daejeon, South Korea, discuss the strategies used by viral pathogens to avoid detection by immune receptors or to block activation of these receptors and the associated signaling molecules, thus preventing expression of antiviral genes. These strategies include modifying viral nucleic acids or making them inaccessible, and interference with sensor proteins, either though degradation, altered processing or relocalization within the cell. The authors summarize rapid advances in scientists’ understanding of sensor-mediated antiviral responses at the molecular level, and highlight how that knowledge could help guide the development of novel vaccines and antiviral agents.