Uenishi Hirohide, Shinkai Hiroki
Division of Animal Sciences, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2009 Mar;33(3):353-61. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2008.06.001. Epub 2008 Jun 30.
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the most famous pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs); they monitor pathogen-associated molecular patterns and play a critical role in activation of the immune system against infection. TLR gene mutations may affect the gene products in terms of their ligand-binding ability or their signal transduction ability after ligand binding; such changes have a great influence on pathogen monitoring and disease resistance. Thirteen mammalian TLRs have been identified, and genes corresponding to all 10 TLR genes identified in humans have been fully cloned in pigs. Porcine TLR gene coding sequences possess a large number of nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They are concentrated in ectodomains, and may increase the variability of pathogen recognition in pig populations. We summarize the current knowledge of TLR molecules in mammals and livestock (particularly pigs) and speculate on the relationship between SNPs in porcine TLRs and their application to vaccine design and disease-resistance breeding.
Toll样受体（TLRs）是最著名的模式识别受体（PRRs）；它们监测病原体相关分子模式，并在激活免疫系统抵抗感染方面发挥关键作用。TLR基因突变可能在配体结合能力或配体结合后的信号转导能力方面影响基因产物；这种变化对病原体监测和抗病性有很大影响。已鉴定出13种哺乳动物TLR，并且在猪中已完全克隆出与人类鉴定出的所有10种TLR基因相对应的基因。猪TLR基因编码序列具有大量非同义单核苷酸多态性（SNPs）。它们集中在外显子区域，可能会增加猪群体中病原体识别的变异性。我们总结了目前关于哺乳动物和家畜（特别是猪）中TLR分子的知识，并推测猪TLRs中的SNPs之间的关系及其在疫苗设计和抗病育种中的应用。
