Cells have evolved a number of pathways to sense RNAs – both RNAs derived from external pathogens like RNA viruses and RNAs from internal sources like endogenous retroviruses and other transposable elements. Determining the function and regulation of these RNA sensing pathways is key to better understanding innate immunity, not only in the context of responses to RNA viruses, but also in other diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer. Understanding these pathways is also critical for growing area of RNA therapeutics, where it is important to understand how the innate immune system interacts with the RNA drugs. The importance of this area of research was highlighted by the recent Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded for discoveries about how nucleoside base modifications affect how mRNA interacts with the immune system and enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Join us for a discussion with Sun Hur (Harvard Medical School/ Boston Children’s Hospital), Stacy Horner (Duke University School of Medicine) and Jin Billy Li (Stanford University), who will share the latest advancements in understanding the mechanisms, functions and regulation of RNA sensing in immunity.