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STING and the innate immune response to nucleic acids in the cytosol

Nature Immunology volume 14, pages 19–26 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Cytosolic detection of pathogen-derived nucleic acids is critical for the initiation of innate immune defense against diverse bacterial, viral and eukaryotic pathogens. Conversely, inappropriate responses to cytosolic nucleic acids can produce severe autoimmune pathology. The host protein STING has been identified as a central signaling molecule in the innate immune response to cytosolic nucleic acids. STING seems to be especially critical for responses to cytosolic DNA and the unique bacterial nucleic acids called 'cyclic dinucleotides'. Here we discuss advances in the understanding of STING and highlight the many unresolved issues in the field.

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Figure 1: STING protein architecture.
Figure 2: Overview of STING signaling.
Figure 3: STING structure.
Figure 4: Potential model of STING signaling.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our colleagues in the field of STING biology and members of the Vance and Barton laboratories for discussions. Supported by the US National Institutes of Health (AI091100 to D.L.B., and AI063302, AI075039 and AI082357 to R.E.V.) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (R.E.V.).

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  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Immunology and Pathogenesis, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Dara L Burdette & Russell E Vance

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Correspondence to Russell E Vance.

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Burdette, D., Vance, R. STING and the innate immune response to nucleic acids in the cytosol. Nat Immunol 14, 19–26 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.2491

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