Schematic summarizing the roles of SGs in protecting cells from dsRNA. SGs suppress a broad range of dsRNA-triggered innate immune pathways (RLR, PKR, and OASes), regardless of the origin of dsRNA. In particular, SGs slow down the ramp-up speed of RLR signaling and help maintain its magnitude below the death threshold. In the absence of SGs, RLRs are hyperactivated, leading to an excessive innate immune response and consequent cell death. The IRF3-IFN axis downstream of RLR-MAVS does not contribute to cell death and often displays a dynamic temporal behavior characterized by a sharp peak followed by a strong decline due to caspase-dependent feedback regulation. Data are presented in means ± SD. p values were calculated using two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test (ns, p > 0.05). All data are representative of three independent experiments.
