ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1574866
This article is part of the Research TopicRegulation of Innate Immunity Response: from Drosophila to HumansView all articles
Conserved function of bat TBK1 in activating antiviral innate immunity against RNA viruses: insights into the innate immune response in bats
Provisionally accepted
Qiuju Liu1
Qi Shao1
Caixia Xu1Chao Liu2Shuhan Li3
JIE WANG1Xia Liu1Kehui Zhang1
Yaxian Yan1
Jianhe Sun1*
Yuqiang Cheng1*- 1Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
- 3Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong Province, China
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Bats exhibit unique abilities to coexist with viruses asymptomatically, setting them apart among mammals. The innate immune system serves as the primary defense against pathogens. As a crucial central node protein in this system, TANK binding kinase 1(TBK1) can receive signals from multiple pattern recognition receptors, and then promote the production of Type I interferon (IFN Ⅰ) and inflammatory factors. Despite its importance, how TBK1 works in bats remains poorly understood. Here, through bioinformatics analysis, TBK1 was found to exhibit a high sequence conservation across species. Overexpression of bat TBK1 significantly upregulated IFNβ expression, and then inhibited viral replication. Co-expression of bat TBK1 with bat IRF1/3/7 or bat IRF7 can facilitate the upregulation of IFNβ mediated by bat TBK1, implying the activation signals potentially can be transmitted from bat TBK1 to IRF1/3/7, and then promote IFNβ production. Structurally, protein kinase domain (PKD), ubiquitin-like domain (ULD), and coiled-coil domain 1 (CCD1) are essential domains for bat TBK1 to function normally. In summary, this study elucidated bat TBK1 has a conserved ability to activate bat antiviral innate immunity.
Keywords: BAT, TBK1, virus, innate immunity, IFNβ
Received: 11 Feb 2025; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Shao, Xu, Liu, Li, WANG, Liu, Zhang, Yan, Sun and Cheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jianhe Sun, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Yuqiang Cheng, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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