Role and Regulation of Toll-Like Receptors and Signalings in Development and Disease

Dear Colleagues, 

Over the last 40 years, Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have been one of the most developed research topics, with an average of 2-3 million of published papers every year (PubMed). TLRs are the orthologous of the Toll protein of Drosophila melanogaster that was discovered in the last century (Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, 1985) with a crucial role in the dorsoventral patterning during embryonic development. Subsequent studies showed that deficiencies in Toll also render the adult fly vulnerable to fungal infections, leading to the discovery of Medzhitov et al. (1) in 1997. He reported, for the first time, the human homolog named Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) that recognizes lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the Gram-negative bacteria as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP). From there, an explosion of research has identified 13 mammal TLRs involved in immune responses to date. TLRs can recognize both invading pathogens and endogenous danger molecules released from dying cells and damaged tissues, and play a key role in linking innate and adaptive immunity.

Together with the role of TLRs in mediating the innate immune response, there is growing evidence of their involvement in developmental processes and morphogenesis, both in non-mammals and mammals organisms, as predicted from the original role of Toll in Drosophyla.

However, dysregulation of the expression of TLRs was found to possibly lead to a condition of chronic inflammation that can support the onset of several inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, infection-induced sepsis for acute inflammation, vascular system disorders across both acute and chronic inflammation, and other inflammation-associated diseases such as psoriasis, gastrointestinal cancer, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer.

The consensus from an immunological perspective is that TLR antagonists and inhibitors at various stages are a promising therapeutic strategy for these inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Therefpre, topics in this Special Issue will include (but are not limited to):

• TLRs in regulating the immune response against pathogens and tumor cells;
• TLRs in autoimmune deseases;
• TLRs in neurological disorders;
• New therapeutic approach in immunotherapy;
• TLRs role in development;
• TLRs and drug discovery research;
• TLR-targeting drugs.

Dr. Francesca Arnaboldi
Dr. Michele Sommariva
Guest Editors

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• T-like receptors (TLRs)
• PAMPs
• MAMPs
• autoimmune diseases
• inflammatory diseases
• TLRs antagonist
• TLRs inhibitor