Key result
Cellular sensing of viral DNA induces innate immune responses that block microbial replication, while viruses have evolved antagonistic mechanisms to inhibit these host sensors.
This review highlights the mechanisms by which mammalian cells detect viral DNA and the strategies viruses use to evade these innate immune responses.
Mammalian cells detect foreign DNA introduced as free DNA or as a result of microbial infection, leading to the induction of innate immune responses that block microbial replication and the activation of mechanisms that epigenetically silence the genes encoded by the foreign DNA. A number of DNA sensors localized to a variety of sites within the cell have been identified, and this review focuses on the mechanisms that detect viral DNA and how the resulting responses affect viral infections. Viruses have evolved mechanisms that inhibit these host sensors and signaling pathways, and the study of these antagonistic viral strategies has provided insight into the mechanisms of these host responses. The field of cellular sensing of foreign DNA is in its infancy, but our currently limited knowledge has raised a number of important questions for study.
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Orzalli et al. (2014) conducted a review in Viral infection. Cellular sensing of viral DNA was evaluated. Cellular sensing of viral DNA induces innate immune responses that block microbial replication, while viruses have evolved antagonistic mechanisms to inhibit these host sensors.
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