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Summary: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in antiviral response by recognizing viral components. Recently, a RNA helicase, RIG-I, was also suggested to recognize viral double-stranded RNA. However, how these molecules contribute to viral recognition in vivo is poorly understood. We show by gene targeting that RIG-I is essential for induction of type I interferons (IFNs) after infection with RNA viruses in fibroblasts and conventional dendritic cells (DCs). RIG-I induces type I IFNs by activating IRF3 via I[kappa]B kinase-related kinases. In contrast, plasmacytoid DCs, which produce large amounts of IFN-[alpha], use the TLR system rather than RIG-I for viral detection. Taken together, RIG-I and the TLR system exert antiviral responses in a cell type-specific manner.

(C) 2005Elsevier, Inc.