Innate immunity of an organism is the in born protection against invading pathogens. Innate immune receptors sense components of invading organisms and trigger immune and inflammatory responses to combat infectious agents. In this proposal we intend to target three human innate immune receptors which among others are involved in detecting virus infection. We will use high throughput screening to identify chemical and small interfering RNA modifiers, which will specifically modulate Toll-like Receptor 3, Retinoic acid Inducible gene I and Toll-like receptor 7 signaling pathways. During the course of this investigation, we would like to find efficient modifiers, test their specificity, and make them available to the research community. We have successfully developed and used high throughput screening experiments to target one of the innate immune receptor - Toll-like Receptor 3. Using a cell-based readout system to screen for inhibitors we have identified novel signaling pathways involved in TLR3 mediated IRF3 activation and cytokine induction. In this proposal we will collaborate with University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute (DDI) to take advantage of the high throughput screening and drug development expertise of DDI to expand our screening efforts. This project will not only generate novel reagents for studying innate immune receptor signaling pathways, but may also provide building blocks for future drug development, which can be used to treat inflammatory diseases caused by virus infection.

Public Health Relevance

Innate immune receptors are the first line of sensors to recognize various components of invading pathogens and trigger immune and inflammatory responses to combat the infectious agent. We propose to target a few of these receptors which are involved in sensing virus infections, and identify novel reagents capable of modulating the functions of these receptors. Our long-term goal is to use these specific reagents to treat inflammatory and auto-immune diseases, which are caused by over or under-action of these receptors.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Resource-Related Research Projects--Cooperative Agreements (U24)
Project #
5U24AI082673-04
Application #
8228166
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1-KE-I (J2))
Program Officer
Prabhudas, Mercy R
Project Start
2009-03-15
Project End
2014-02-28
Budget Start
2012-03-01
Budget End
2013-02-28
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$285,032
Indirect Cost
$109,238
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Cuevas, Rolando A; Ghosh, Arundhati; Wallerath, Christina et al. (2016) MOV10 Provides Antiviral Activity against RNA Viruses by Enhancing RIG-I-MAVS-Independent IFN Induction. J Immunol 196:3877-86
Dhar, Jayeeta; Cuevas, Rolando A; Goswami, Ramansu et al. (2015) 2'-5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase-Like Protein Inhibits Respiratory Syncytial Virus Replication and Is Targeted by the Viral Nonstructural Protein 1. J Virol 89:10115-9
Zhu, Jianzhong; Ghosh, Arundhati; Sarkar, Saumendra N (2015) OASL-a new player in controlling antiviral innate immunity. Curr Opin Virol 12:15-9
Alcorn, John F; Sarkar, Saumendra N (2015) What is the oligoadenylate synthetases-like protein and does it have therapeutic potential for influenza? Expert Rev Respir Med 9:1-3
Ohkuri, Takayuki; Ghosh, Arundhati; Kosaka, Akemi et al. (2014) STING contributes to antiglioma immunity via triggering type I IFN signals in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Immunol Res 2:1199-208
Zhu, Jianzhong; Zhang, Yugen; Ghosh, Arundhati et al. (2014) Antiviral activity of human OASL protein is mediated by enhancing signaling of the RIG-I RNA sensor. Immunity 40:936-48
Forero, Adriana; McCormick, Kevin D; Jenkins, Frank J et al. (2014) Downregulation of IRF4 induces lytic reactivation of KSHV in primary effusion lymphoma cells. Virology 458-459:4-10
Sarkar, Saumendra N (2014) Could boosting the oligoadenylate synthetase-like pathway bring a new era of antiviral therapy? Future Virol 9:1011-1014
Forero, Adriana; Giacobbi, Nicholas S; McCormick, Kevin D et al. (2014) Simian virus 40 large T antigen induces IFN-stimulated genes through ATR kinase. J Immunol 192:5933-42
Okada, Hideho; Scheurer, Michael E; Sarkar, Saumendra N et al. (2013) Integration of epidemiology, immunobiology, and translational research for brain tumors. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1284:17-23

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