Recognition of Legionella pneumophila nucleic acids by innate immune receptors.

Innate immune receptors evolved to sense conserved molecules that are present in microbes or are released during non-physiological conditions. Activation of these receptors is essential for early restriction of microbial infections and generation of adaptive immunity. Among the conserved molecules sensed by innate immune receptors are the nucleic acids, which are abundantly contained in all infectious organisms including virus, bacteria, fungi and parasites. In this review we focus in the innate immune proteins that function to sense nucleic acids from the intracellular bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila and the importance of these processes to the outcome of the infection.