Retinoic acid‐inducible gene I (RIG‐I)‐like receptors (RLRs) in fish: current knowledge and future perspectives

Summary Retinoic acid‐inducible gene I ( RIG ‐I) ‐like receptors ( RLR s) are found conservatively present in teleost fish. All three members, RIG ‐I, MDA 5 and LGP 2, together with the downstream molecules such as MITA , TRAF 3 and TBK 1, have been identified in a range of fish species. However, it is unexpected that RIG ‐I has not been reported in fish of Acanthopterygii, and it would be important to clarify the presence and role of the RIG ‐I gene in a broad range of taxa in Teleostei. RLR s in fish can be induced in vivo and in vitro by viral pathogens as well as synthetic ds RNA , poly(I:C), leading to the production of type I interferons ( IFN s) and the expression of IFN ‐stimulated genes ( ISG s). Bacterial pathogens, such as Edwardsiella tarda , and their components, such as lipopolysaccharide are also found to induce the expression of RLR s, and whether such induction was mediated through the direct recognition by RLR s or through crosstalk with other pattern recognition receptors recognizing directly bacterial pathogen‐associated molecular patterns awaits to be investigated. On the other hand, RLR ‐activated type I IFN production can be negatively regulated in fish by molecules, such as TBK ‐1‐like protein and IRF 10, which are found to negatively regulate RIG ‐I and MAVS ‐activated type I IFN production, and to block MITA or bind ISRE motifs, respectively. It is considered that the evolutionary occurrence of RLR s in fish, and their recognized ligands, especially those from their fish pathogens, as well as the mechanisms involved in the RLR signalling pathways, are of significant interest for further investigation.