TY - JOUR TI - Sequence specific detection of bacterial 23S ribosomal RNA by TLR13 AU - Li, Xiao-Dong AU - Chen, Zhijian J A2 - Taniguchi, Tadatsugu VL - 1 PY - 2012 DA - 2012/10/30 SP - e00102 C1 - eLife 2012;1:e00102 DO - 10.7554/eLife.00102 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00102 AB - Toll-like receptors (TLRs) detect microbial infections and trigger innate immune responses. Among vertebrate TLRs, the role of TLR13 and its ligand are unknown. Here we show that TLR13 detects the 23S ribosomal RNA of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. A sequence containing 13 nucleotides near the active site of 23S rRNA ribozyme, which catalyzes peptide bond synthesis, was both necessary and sufficient to trigger TLR13-dependent interleukin-1β production. Single point mutations within this sequence destroyed the ability of the 23S rRNA to stimulate the TLR13 pathway. Knockout of TLR13 in mice abolished the induction of interleukin-1β and other cytokines by the 23S rRNA sequence. Thus, TLR13 detects bacterial RNA with exquisite sequence specificity. KW - Innate Immunity KW - Toll-like receptor KW - bacteria KW - Ribosomal RNA JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -