%A Pengyan Xia,Shuo Wang,Pu Gao,Guangxia Gao,Zusen Fan %T DNA sensor cGAS-mediated immune recognition %0 Journal Article %D 2016 %J Protein Cell %J Protein & Cell %@ 1674-800X %R 10.1007/s13238-016-0320-3 %P 777-791 %V 7 %N 11 %U {https://journal.hep.com.cn/pac/EN/10.1007/s13238-016-0320-3 %8 2016-11-28 %X

The host takes use of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) to defend against pathogen invasion or cellular damage. Among microorganism-associated molecular patterns detected by host PRRs, nucleic acids derived from bacteria or viruses are tightly supervised, providing a fundamental mechanism of host defense. Pathogenic DNAs are supposed to be detected by DNA sensors that induce the activation of NFκB or TBK1-IRF3 pathway. DNA sensor cGAS is widely expressed in innate immune cells and is a key sensor of invading DNAs in several cell types. cGAS binds to DNA, followed by a conformational change that allows the synthesis of cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP) from adenosine triphosphate and guanosine triphosphate. cGAMP is a strong activator of STING that can activate IRF3 and subsequent type I interferon production. Here we describe recent progresses in DNA sensors especially cGAS in the innate immune responses against pathogenic DNAs.