Small molecule approaches to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (Part II): Nucleic acid sensing antagonists and inhibitors

Nucleic acid sensing pathways play an important role in the innate immune system, protecting hosts against infections. However, a large body of evidence supports a close association between aberrant activation of those pathways and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Part II of the digest series on small molecule approaches to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases concentrates on recent advances with respect to small molecule antagonists or inhibitors of the nucleic acid sensing pathways, including endosomal TLRs, NLRP3 inflammasome and cGAS-STING.

Automated summary

Aberrant activation of nucleic acid sensing pathways is closely associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, making research on small molecule antagonists or inhibitors of these pathways crucial.