Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 14, 2025

Stimulation of Cytoplasmic DNA Sensing Pathways In Vitro and In Vivo
Published on: September 18, 2014
The Role of Ku70 as a Cytosolic DNA Sensor in Innate Immunity and Beyond
Hongyan Sui1, Ming Hao1, Weizhong Chang1
1Laboratory of Human Retrovirology and Immunoinformatics, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, United States.
Abstract:
Human Ku70 is a well-known endogenous nuclear protein involved in the non-homologous end joining pathway to repair double-stranded breaks in DNA. However, Ku70 has been studied in multiple contexts and grown into a multifunctional protein. In addition to the extensive functional study of Ku70 in DNA repair process, many studies have emphasized the role of Ku70 in various other cellular processes, including apoptosis, aging, and HIV replication. In this review, we focus on discussing the role of Ku70 in inducing interferons and proinflammatory cytokines as a cytosolic DNA sensor. We explored the unique structure of Ku70 binding with DNA; illustrated, with evidence, how Ku70, as a nuclear protein, responds to extracellular DNA stimulation; and summarized the mechanisms of the Ku70-involved innate immune response pathway. Finally, we discussed several new strategies to modulate Ku70-mediated innate immune response and highlighted some potential physiological insights based on the role of Ku70 in innate immunity.
More Related Videos
10:57NF-κB-dependent Luciferase Activation and Quantification of Gene Expression in Salmonella Infected Tissue Culture Cells
Published on: January 12, 2020
07:26Site Specific Lysine Acetylation of Histones for Nucleosome Reconstitution using Genetic Code Expansion in Escherichia coli
Published on: December 26, 2020
Related Concept Videos
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The...
Cells of the Innate Immune Response
Phagocytes
Phagocytes police the peripheral tissues by removing cellular debris and responding to the invasion of foreign substances or pathogens. Many phagocytes attack and remove microorganisms even before lymphocytes detect them. The human body has two general...
Immune Surveillance by NK Cells and Phagocytes
Natural Killer Cells: The Fast Responders
NK cells are large granular lymphocytes found in the blood and lymphatic system. These...
CRISPR and crRNAs
The CRISPR-Cas system stores a copy of foreign DNA in the host genome and uses it to identify the foreign DNA upon reinfection. CRISPR-Cas has three different...
S-Cdk Initiates DNA Replication
Two states at the origin of replication
In eukaryotes, the initiation of replication occurs at many sites on the chromosomes, called the origins of...
The Antiviral System of Bacteria and Archaea: CRISPR