Sensing Lipids with Mincle: Structure and Function

Abstract

Mincle is a C-type lectin receptor that has emerged as an important player in innate immunity through its capacity to recognize a wide range of lipidic species derived from damaged/altered self and foreign microorganisms. Self-ligands include sterols (e.g., cholesterol), and β-glucosylceramides, and the protein SAP130, which is released upon cell death. Foreign lipids comprise those from both microbial pathogens and commensals and include glycerol, glucose and trehalose mycolates, and glycosyl diglycerides. A large effort has focused on structural variation of these ligands to illuminate the structure-activity relationships required for the agonism of signaling though Mincle and has helped i..