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Updated: Sep 25, 2025

Screening Bioactive Nanoparticles in Phagocytic Immune Cells for Inhibitors of Toll-like Receptor Signaling
Published on: July 26, 2017
Toll-like receptors matter: plasmacytoid dendritic cells in COVID-19
Jennifer Becker1, Ulrich Kalinke1,2
1Institute for Experimental Infection Research, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Abstract:
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) have the unique ability to rapidly mount high-level antiviral type I interferon (IFN-I) responses during diverse virus infections. In COVID-19 patients, reduced pDC numbers correlate with diminished IFN-I serum levels and enhanced disease severity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2-mediated pDC stimulation to induce cytokine responses are still largely unclear. In this issue of the EMBO Journal, van der Sluis and colleagues tackled this question by using an innovative hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC)-pDC system that allows gene editing and the detailed analysis of pDC sensing mechanisms.
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