Pyrosequencing of toll-like receptor polymorphisms of functional relevance

Inflammation is becoming increasingly recognized and discussed as an important pathobiochemical origin in many disease entities such as atherosclerosis, cancer, or infections and genetically determined susceptibility to danger signals may influence the development of inflammatory diseases. Members of the 'toll-like receptor' (TLR) family are pivotal molecules in the activation of the innate immune system and specifically recognize structurally conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Since their discovery a growing number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified, functionally characterized and in part linked to multiple diseases. Here we report several protocols for Pyrosequencing approaches to genotype functionally relevant SNPs in TLR-genes and further molecules of the innate immune system.