cGAS-like receptors: ancient catchers of viral nucleic acids

Living organisms have evolved conserved 'catchers' for detecting and handling molecular patterns from invading viruses. Slavik et al. and Holleufer et al. recently identified cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS)- like receptors that detect double-stranded viral RNA in Drosophila. cGAS-like receptors constitute a newexpanding family of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) for viral nucleic acids.

Automated summary

Living organisms have developed conserved mechanisms for detecting and responding to molecular patterns from invading viruses, with cGAS-like receptors being a newly identified family of PRRs specifically for viral nucleic acids.