Nlrp6 regulates intestinal antiviral innate immunity

Abstract

Nlrp6 keeps gut infections in check Most viruses infect only certain cells of the body. Enteric viruses, such as norovirus and rotavirus, specifically infect the gut. Wang et al. now show that the response to such viruses is tissue-specific, too. Antiviral immunity to enteric but not systemic viral infections in mice required Nlrp6, a member of the NOD-like receptor family of proteins that play important roles in host defense. Together with the RNA helicase protein Dhx15, Nlrp6 bound viral RNA and elicited downstream antiviral immune responses necessary for viral clearance. These included the production of type I and type III interferons and the expression of interferon-stimulated genes. Science , this issue p. 826