Toll-like receptor signalling and the clinical benefits that lie within

Abstract

TLRs are of crucial importance to the innate immune system by recognising molecules that are broadly shared by pathogens but distinguishable from host molecules. The innate immune system works to defend the body from microbial infection by initiating inflammation, the extreme form of which is sepsis. The discovery that endogenous ligands, as well as microbial components, are recognised by TLRs, raise the possibility of these receptors and their associated adaper molecules, as potential targets for the development of agonists and antogonists for the treatment of various pathological diseases, and their manipulation as potential adjuvants in vaccine development. By elucidating the mechanisms of TLR signalling pathways involving adapter molecules like MyD88, Mal, TRIF and TRAM combined with the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within these receptors and the unique genes that are expressed upon recognition, will assit in the development of therapeutics to alleviate the consequences of microbial-mediated inflammation, which include inflammatory disorders and septic shock. © 2007 Birkhäuser Verlag.