Toll-like receptors in ocular immunity and the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory eye disease
- 1Laboratory of Ocular Immunology, Inflammatory Diseases Research Unit, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia
- 3Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia
- Correspondence to: Professor Denis Wakefield School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; d.wakefield{at}unsw.edu.au
- Accepted 1 August 2005
Abstract
Microbial agents have an important role in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory eye diseases, such as uveitis and keratitis. Microbial infections of the eye such as microbial keratitis, ocular onchocerciasis, bacterial endophthalmitis, viral retinitis, and other infectious uveitis are unfortunately common. In addition, microbial agents have been implicated in the pathogenesis of “non-infectious” immune mediated diseases such as HLA-B27 associated acute anterior uveitis. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are a family of pattern recognition receptors that initiates rapid host innate immune response to microbial components known as pathogen associated molecular patterns, which are unique to a given class of microbes, such as lipopolysaccharide of Gram negative bacteria. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the expression and function of TLRs in the eye, with significant implications for better understanding of ocular immunity and the pathogenesis of inflammatory eye diseases affecting the cornea, uvea, and retina.
- AAU, acute anterior uveitis
- AMD, age related macular degeneration
- APC, antigen presenting cell
- CMV, cytomegalovirus
- DC, dendritic cell
- dsRNA, double stranded RNA
- EIU, endotoxin induced uveitis
- HLA, human leucocyte antigen
- HSV, herpes simplex virus
- IFN-β, interferon β
- IL, interleukin
- KO, knockout
- LPS, lipopolysaccharide
- MHC, major histocompatibility complex
- MIP-2, macrophage inflammatory protein-2
- NF-κB, nuclear factor κB
- NOD, nucleotide oligomerisation domain
- PAMP, pathogen associated molecular patterns
- PECAM-1, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1
- POS, photoreceptor outer segments
- PRR, pattern recognition receptor
- RPE, retinal pigment epithelium
- TIR, Toll/IL-1 receptor
- Th, T helper
- TLR, toll-like receptor
- TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor α
- toll-like receptors
- eye
- uveitis
- keratitis
- ocular inflammation
- AAU, acute anterior uveitis
- AMD, age related macular degeneration
- APC, antigen presenting cell
- CMV, cytomegalovirus
- DC, dendritic cell
- dsRNA, double stranded RNA
- EIU, endotoxin induced uveitis
- HLA, human leucocyte antigen
- HSV, herpes simplex virus
- IFN-β, interferon β
- IL, interleukin
- KO, knockout
- LPS, lipopolysaccharide
- MHC, major histocompatibility complex
- MIP-2, macrophage inflammatory protein-2
- NF-κB, nuclear factor κB
- NOD, nucleotide oligomerisation domain
- PAMP, pathogen associated molecular patterns
- PECAM-1, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1
- POS, photoreceptor outer segments
- PRR, pattern recognition receptor
- RPE, retinal pigment epithelium
- TIR, Toll/IL-1 receptor
- Th, T helper
- TLR, toll-like receptor
- TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor α
- toll-like receptors
- eye
- uveitis
- keratitis
- ocular inflammation
Footnotes
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The authors have no competing interests regarding any aspects of this work.
