{"doi":"10.17615/za2w-w166","title":"The role of DNA sensing and innate immune receptor TLR9 in otitis media","abstract":"Otitis media (OM), a common infectious disease in children, is associated with bacterial middle ear (ME) infection. Tolllike receptors (TLRs) are important mediators of innate immune responses, and TLR9 specifically recognizes the unmethylated cytidine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) motifs in bacterial DNA. Additional sensors of foreign DNA have recently been identified. The role of DNA sensing and TLR9 was investigated in a murine model of OM induced by non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). Expression of genes related to DNA-sensing pathways involved in innate immunity was assessed via DNA microarray, qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Middle ear responses to NTHi were examined in wild-type and TLR9−/− mice by histopathology and bacterial culture. Expression of TLR9 signaling genes was modestly up-regulated during OM, as was TLR9 protein in both ME mucosal cells and infiltrating leukocytes. However, genes known to be regulated by CpG DNA were dramatically up-regulated, as were genes involved in DNA sensing by DIA, Pol-III and AIM2. Toll-like receptor 9 deletion significantly prolonged the inflammatory response induced by NTHi in the ME and delayed bacterial clearance. The results suggest that DNA sensing via TLR9 plays a role in OM pathogenesis and recovery. Alternative forms of DNA sensing may also contribute to OM.","journal":"UNC Libraries","year":2020,"id":144624,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9543,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":613742,"name":"Barbara Wollenberg","orcid":"0000-0002-3062-459X","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":442309,"name":"Michelle L. Hernandez","orcid":"0000-0002-0925-1872","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":327789,"name":"Kwang Pak","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":294553,"name":"Nicholas J. G. Webster","orcid":"0000-0002-3827-5750","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":613743,"name":"Jasmine Lee","orcid":"0000-0003-3847-1679","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":326706,"name":"Allen F. Ryan","orcid":"0000-0001-9894-8083","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":548927,"name":"Stephen I. Wasserman","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":548325,"name":"Anke Leichtle","orcid":"0000-0001-8067-4299","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:17:48.191325Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}