Toll-like receptor 7, also known as TLR7, is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''TLR7''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

Orthologs Sequence homology is the biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of three phenomena: either a spec ...

are found in mammals and birds. It is a member of the

toll-like receptor Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of proteins that play a key role in the innate immune system. They are Bitopic protein, single-pass membrane-spanning Receptor (biochemistry), receptors usually expressed on sentinel cells such as macrophage ...

(TLR) family and detects single stranded RNA.

Function

The TLR family plays an important role in pathogen recognition and activation of

innate immunity The innate, or nonspecific, immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies (the other being the adaptive immune system) in vertebrates. The innate immune system is an older evolutionary defense strategy, relatively speaking, and is the ...

. TLRs are highly conserved from ''

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species ...

'' to humans and share structural and functional similarities. They recognize

pathogen-associated molecular pattern Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are small molecular motifs conserved within a class of microbes. They are recognized by toll-like receptors (TLRs) and other pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in both plants and animals. A vast arra ...

s (PAMPs) that are expressed on infectious agents, and mediate the production of

cytokine Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in autocrin ...

s necessary for the development of effective

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

. The various TLRs exhibit different patterns of expression. This gene is predominantly expressed in

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mater ...

, and

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

, and lies in close proximity to another family member,

TLR8 Toll-like receptor 8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TLR8'' gene. TLR8 has also been designated as CD288 (cluster of differentiation 288). It is a member of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family. Function TLR8 seems to function d ...

, on the human X chromosome. TLR7 recognizes single-stranded

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

endosomes Endosomes are a collection of intracellular sorting organelles in eukaryotic cells. They are parts of endocytic membrane transport pathway originating from the trans Golgi network. Molecules or ligands internalized from the plasma membrane can ...

, which is a common feature of viral

genomes In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding gen ...

which are internalised by

macrophages Macrophages (abbreviated as M φ, MΦ or MP) ( el, large eaters, from Greek ''μακρός'' (') = large, ''φαγεῖν'' (') = to eat) are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that engulfs and digests pathogens, such as cancer ce ...

and

dendritic cell Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells (also known as ''accessory cells'') of the mammalian immune system. Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system. ...

s. TLR7 recognizes single-stranded RNA of viruses such as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and HCV. TLR7 can recognize GU-rich single-stranded RNA. However, the presence of GU-rich sequences in the single-stranded RNA is not sufficient to stimulate TLR7.

Clinical significance

TLR7 has been shown to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders such as

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

as well as in the regulation of antiviral immunity. Although not yet fully elucidated, using an unbiased genome-scale screen with

short hairpin RNA A short hairpin RNA or small hairpin RNA (shRNA/Hairpin Vector) is an artificial RNA molecule with a tight hairpin turn that can be used to silence target gene expression via RNA interference (RNAi). Expression of shRNA in cells is typically acc ...

(shRNA), it has been demonstrated that the receptor TREML4 acts as an essential positive regulator of TLR7 signaling. In TREML4 -/- mice macrophages that are hyporesponsive to TLR7 agonists, macrophages fail to produce type I interferons due to impaired phosphorylation of the transcription factor

STAT1 Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) is a transcription factor which in humans is encoded by the ''STAT1'' gene. It is a member of the STAT protein family. Function All STAT molecules are phosphorylated by receptor associa ...

by the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 and decreased recruitment of the adaptor MYD88 to TLR7. TREML4 deficiency reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines and autoantibodies in MRL/lpr mice, suggesting that TLR7 is a vital component of antiviral immunity and a predecessor factor in the pathogenesis of

rheumatic disease Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic pain, chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, ...

s such as

systemic lupus erythematosus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

(SLE). A TLR7 agonist,

imiquimod Imiquimod, sold under the brand name Aldara among others, is a medication that acts as an immune response modifier that is used to treat genital warts, superficial basal cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis. Scientists at 3M's pharmaceuticals ...

(Aldara), has been approved for topical use in treating warts caused by

papillomavirus ''Papillomaviridae'' is a family of non- enveloped DNA viruses whose members are known as papillomaviruses. Several hundred species of papillomaviruses, traditionally referred to as "types", have been identified infecting all carefully inspected ...

and for

actinic keratosis Actinic keratosis (AK), sometimes called solar keratosis or senile keratosis, is a pre-cancerous area of thick, scaly, or crusty skin.Freedberg, et al. (2003). ''Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine''. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill. . Actinic k ...

. Due to their ability to induce robust production of anti-cancer cytokines such as

interleukin-12 Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is an interleukin that is naturally produced by dendritic cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and human B- lymphoblastoid cells ( NC-37) in response to antigenic stimulation. IL-12 belongs to the family of interleukin-12. I ...

, TLR7 agonists have been investigated for

cancer immunotherapy Cancer immunotherapy (sometimes called immuno-oncology) is the stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving on the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer im ...

. Recent examples include TMX-202 delivery via liposomal formulation, as well as the delivery of

resiquimod Resiquimod (R-848) is a drug that acts as an immune response modifier, and has Antiviral drug, antiviral and antitumour activity. It is used as a topical gel in the treatment of skin lesions such as those caused by the herpes simplex virus and cu ...

via nanoparticles formed from beta-cyclodextrin. In July 2020, it was discovered that a deficient TLR7 gene caused several young patients to become seriously ill after being infected by

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

. This suggests that TLR7 plays a key role in triggering the immune response for patients of COVID-19. For more details on the biological mechanism and pathway, see
Type I Interferon Induction and Signaling During SARS-CoV-2 Infection
o
WikiPathways

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tlr 7 7

Function

Clinical significance

References

Further reading

External links