InvivoGen’s Reviews

Inflammasome
NLRP1 & NLRP3: a tale of two inflammasome sensors
In this first newsletter of 2023, InvivoGen highlights the current knowledge about the NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasome sensors and discusses the experimental difficulty in assessing their respective role in pathophysiological contexts.
We also introduce a series of new products, including NLRP1 reporter cell lines, TLR4 reporter cell lines, as well as a new liquid formulation of our highly-cited luciferase detection reagent, QUANTI-Luc 4 Lucia/Gaussia.
Previous reviews

Antibodies
Engineered Fc Regions
The Fc region of an antibody mediates its serum half-life and effector functions, such as complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cell phagocytosis (ADCP).

Products
CpG-free DNA Review
Review of the effect of CpG dinucleotide on the immune response and the gene silencing of gene delivery vectors for gene therapy applications.

Innate Immunity / Inflammasome
Activation of the NLRP3 Inflammasome
The inflammasome is a large multiprotein complex which plays a key role in innate immunity by participating in the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18.

Innate Immunity / PRR
DAMPs: Endogenous Ligands of TLRs?
The Third International DAMPs and Alarmins Symposium was held in Pittsburgh, USA in 2008. The aim of this meeting was to introduce the emergent understanding of the danger signals also called alarmins or damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) by analogy to the pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs).

Products
siRNA and shRNA Design Guidelines
The design of siRNAs and short hairpin siRNAs (shRNAs) remains an empirical process since the molecular mechanisms underlying RNAi are not yet sufficiently understood to allow for the rational design of siRNAs.

Innate Immunity / PRR
Dectin-1
Dectin-1 is a recently discovered pattern-recognition receptor that plays an important role in antifungal innate immunity. Dectin-1, which is expressed on phagocytes, is a specific receptor for β-glucans.

Innate Immunity / PRR
TLR9 agonists: double-edge sword for immune therapies
Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) senses unmethylated CpG dinucleotides, a hallmark of microbial DNA, that can be mimicked by synthetic oligonucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG ODNs).

Innate Immunity / PRR / IFN response
Viral dsRNA Signaling Through TLRs and RLRs
Viral infections induce a strong innate immune response characterized by the rapid production of type I interferons (IFN α/β) leading to the inhibition of virus replication.

Innate Immunity / PRR
Agonistic and Antagonistic Effects of LPS on TLR4
Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major structural component of the outer wall of all Gram-negative bacteria and a potent activator of the immune system.

Innate Immunity / Products / IFN response
RNA interference: Induction of the IFN Response
RNA interference (RNAi) has become a powerful tool to uncover gene function and is evolving as a new therapeutic modality.