Cell type-specific function of TRAF2 and TRAF3 in regulating type I IFN induction. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: TRAF3 is known as a central mediator of type I interferon (IFN) induction by various pattern recognition receptors, but the in vivo function of TRAF3 in host defense against viral infection is poorly defined due to the lack of a viable mouse model. RESULTS: Here we show that mice carrying conditional deletion of TRAF3 in myeloid cells or dendritic cells do not have a significant defect in host defense against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection. However, whole-body inducible deletion of TRAF3 renders mice more sensitive to VSV infection. Consistently, TRAF3 was essential for type I IFN induction in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) but not in macrophages. In dendritic cells, TRAF3 was required for type I IFN induction by TLR ligands but not by viruses. We further show that the IFN-regulating function is not unique to TRAF3, since TRAF2 is an essential mediator of type I IFN induction in several cell types, including macrophages, DCs, and MEFs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that both TRAF2 and TRAF3 play a crucial role in type I IFN induction, but their functions are cell type- and stimulus-specific.

published proceedings

  • Cell Biosci

altmetric score

  • 0.25

author list (cited authors)

  • Xie, X., Jin, J., Zhu, L., Jie, Z., Li, Y., Zhao, B., ... Sun, S.

citation count

  • 16

complete list of authors

  • Xie, Xiaoping||Jin, Jin||Zhu, Lele||Jie, Zuliang||Li, Yanchuan||Zhao, Baoyu||Cheng, Xuhong||Li, Pingwei||Sun, Shao-Cong

publication date

  • December 2019