Faithful maintenance of immune homeostasis relies on the capacity of the cellular immune surveillance machinery to recognize “nonself”, such as the presence of pathogenic RNA. Several families of pattern-recognition receptors exist that detect immunostimulatory RNA and then induce cytokine-mediated antiviral and proinflammatory responses. Here, we review the distinct features of bona fide RNA sensors, Toll-like receptors and retinoic-acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-like receptors in particular, with a focus on their functional specificity imposed by cell-type-dependent expression, subcellular localization, and ligand preference. Furthermore, we highlight recent advances on the roles of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors and DEAD-box or DEAH-box RNA helicases in an orchestrated RNA-sensing network and also discuss the relevance of RNA sensor polymorphisms in human disease.

免疫稳态的忠实维持依赖于细胞免疫监视机制识别“异体”的能力，例如致病性 RNA 的存在。存在多个模式识别受体家族，它们可检测免疫刺激性 RNA，然后诱导细胞因子介导的抗病毒和促炎反应。在这里，我们回顾了真正的 RNA 传感器、Toll 样受体和视黄酸诱导基因 I (RIG-I) 样受体的独特特征，重点关注细胞类型依赖性所带来的功能特异性。表达、亚细胞定位和配体偏好。此外，我们重点介绍了核苷酸结合寡聚结构域 (NOD) 样受体和 DEAD-box 或 DEAH-box RNA 解旋酶在精心设计的 RNA 传感网络中的作用的最新进展，并讨论了 RNA 传感器多态性在人类疾病中的相关性。