Alternative regulatory Mechanisms of TLR Signaling

It is crucial that signaling pathways such as those induced by Toll-like receptors (TLR) are tightly regulated. This is to prevent over-production of pro-inflammatory mediators that would cause more harm than the good originally intended for the host. Classic mechanisms of regulation include post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination, degradation of signaling components, transcriptional repressors and competition by inhibitory molecules. Alternative mechanisms of regulation, which will be the emphasis of this chapter, have focused our attention on the regulation of pathways post-transcriptionally. Regulation of TLR signaling pathways by mRNA splice variants, RNA binding proteins and microRNAs in particular will be discussed.