Sensing prokaryotic mRNA signifies microbial viability and promotes immunity

MyD88-independent signal transduction associated with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 3 and TLR4 is mediated through the adapter protein TRIF (TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-beta). It has been proposed that TLR signalling is important for the transcription of crucial inflammasome components like NLRP3, a process that has been termed "priming". In order to test whether TRIF signalling was required for the priming of inflammasome components, we performed a genome wide transcriptional analysis on wild-type and Trif-knockout bone marrow derived macrophages (BMMs) before and 1, 3 and 6 hours after phagocytosis of E. coli. These results indicated that TRIF was involved in the activation and not transcriptional priming of the NLRP3 inflammasome.