Nucleotide antiviral signaling

cGLR-STING pathway

The STING pathway is a key component of the host antimicrobial response, driving type I interferon production and inflammatory signaling. This process is efficient toward response to bacterial infection, and virus infection as many DNA and RNA viruses are counteracting its effects.

It is activated by the aberrant presence of DNA in the cytoplasm. While primarily involved in defense against DNA viruses, this pathway can also be triggered during RNA virus infections, which may induce the release of mitochondrial DNA into the host cytosol.