TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR SIGNALING

Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) are among the most ancient families of microbial detection receptors.  They are most notable for their importance in linking microbial detection to the control of T-cell differentiation and adaptive immunity.  This discovery, made by Ruslan Medzhitov and Charles Janeway, heralded a new era of interest into the mechanisms of innate immunity.  It is now clear that TLRs play a role in most (perhaps all) aspects of inflammation and immunity that are induced during infections.  The Kagan lab is interested in understanding the operation of the TLR-dependent signaling pathways, with a particular focus on understanding how the TLR networks are designed and organized in the three-dimensional space of a mammalian cell.