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Toll-Like Receptors

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Definition

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) represent a family of proteins that are involved in the innate sensing of conserved microbial components. They are composed of an extracellular domain containing leucine-rich repeats and a cytoplasmic Toll/interleukin-1 receptor/resistance (TIR) domain that is responsible for mediating downstream signaling cascades and subsequent inflammatory response, ultimately leading to the eradication of infectious agents.

Characteristics

Toll-like receptors were originally described as proteins with homology to the protein Toll, which was first identified in Drosophila melanogaster. In flies, Toll served a regulatory function in the embryonic dorsoventral polarity and was later shown to be an essential component of the Drosophila innate immune system. Based on the fact that Toll serves an immune function in Drosophila, it was proposed that TLRs might “activate adaptive immunity” in mammals, but the precise function of TLRs was revealed by forward genetics.

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References

  • Beutler B (2004) Inferences, questions and possibilities in Toll-like receptor signalling. Nature 430:257–263

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  • IshiiK J, Coban C, Akira S (2005) Manifold mechanisms of toll-like receptor-ligand recognition. J Clin Immunol 25:511–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’NeillL A (2006) How Toll-like receptors signal: what we know and what we don’t know. Curr Opin Immunol 18:3–9

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Kasper Hoebe

Authors
  1. Kasper Hoebe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kasper Hoebe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Hoebe, K. (2015). Toll-Like Receptors. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_5855-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_5855-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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