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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
Harnessing the Prokaryotic Adaptive Immune System as a Eukaryotic Antiviral Defense
Aryn A Price1, Arash Grakoui2, David S Weiss2
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
Abstract:
Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats - CRISPR-associated (CRISPR-Cas) systems - are sequence-specific RNA-directed endonuclease complexes that bind and cleave nucleic acids. These systems evolved within prokaryotes as adaptive immune defenses to target and degrade nucleic acids derived from bacteriophages and other foreign genetic elements. The antiviral function of these systems has now been exploited to combat eukaryotic viruses throughout the viral life cycle. Here we discuss current advances in CRISPR-Cas9 technology as a eukaryotic antiviral defense.
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