Allergens and Activation of the Toll-Like Receptor Response

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) provide a crucial function in the detection of exogenous and endogenous danger signals. The Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were the first family of PRRs to be discovered and have been extensively studied since. Whilst TLRs remain the best characterized family of PRRs there is still much to be learnt about their mode of activation and the mechanisms of signal transduction they employ. Much of our understanding of these processes has been gathered through the use of cell based signaling assays utilizing specific gene-reporters or cytokine secretion based readouts. More recently it has become apparent that the repertoire of ligands recognized by these receptors may be wider than originally assumed and that their activation may be sensitized, or at least modulated by the presence of common household allergens such as the cat dander protein Fel d 1, or the house dust mite allergen Der p 2. In this chapter we provide an overview of the cell culture and stimulation processes required to study TLR signaling in HEK293 based assays and in bone marrow-derived macrophages.