This point notwithstanding, IFN-β is released following STING activation by cytosolic DNA sensors such as cGAS, and IFN-β is a potent activator of innate (e.g. APCs) and adaptive (T/B cells) immune cells. However, activated immune cells may drive dominant immunogenic or tolerogenic responses, contingent on other factors in affected microenvironments that shape downstream responses to (i) insults driving immune responses and (ii) other ISGs responsive to IFN-β [21]. To illustrate this paradigm with a specific example, oligonucleotides containing unmethylated CpG dimers (CpGs) ligate TLR9 and are

widely regarded as immune stimulator adjuvants. However, when CpGs were administered systemically (by intravenous injection) to mice, antigen-specific Th1 or Th2 effector responses elicited in vivo were suppressed in spleens or lungs in a CpG dose-dependent BGB324 cost manner [22-26]. Consistent with the widely known immune adjuvant properties of TLR ligands, low CpG doses (25 μg) enhanced splenic Th1 responses. In striking contrast, higher

CpG doses (100 μg) suppressed splenic Th1 responses due to IFN-αβ-mediated IDO induction in a subset of DCs expressing the LY294002 B-cell marker CD19, which activated Treg cells [22-24]. Thus, IFN-αβ signaling is the pivotal driver of both stimulatory (Th1) and Treg responses to TLR9 ligands, and IDO is the critical ISG driving dose-dependent immune regulatory outcomes DNA ligase following TLR9 ligation in vivo. As TLR9-sensing induces IFN-αβ release at high and low doses, it is unclear why IDO induction was dose-dependent, although one potential explanation is that there are lower local IFN-αβ signaling thresholds for inducing immunogenic responses than IFN-αβ signaling thresholds for inducing CD19+ DCs to express IDO. IDO is not the only ISG that regulates

immunity and IFN-αβ signaling may synergize with regulatory cytokines (e.g. TGF-β, IL-10) to drive dominant regulatory outcomes in some inflammatory settings. For example, systemic exposure to apoptotic cells, which drives tolerogenic responses, was shown to stimulate the release of regulatory (TGF-β, IL-10) and proinflammatory (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12) cytokines in spleens of mice [27]. However, administering IDO inhibitor at the same time enhanced proinflammatory but reduced regulatory cytokine production and drove effector T-cell responses [27], indicating that the balance of proinflammatory and regulatory cytokines, and not the release of specific cytokines per se, is the critical factor influencing immune outcomes. The key lesson from these studies is that cytosolic DNA sensing to activate STING and drive IFN-β release may have tolerogenic or immunogenic consequences in physiologic settings of inflammation that are relevant to clinical disease, including autoimmune syndromes, cancer, and chronic infections.