DNA sensing and immune responses in cancer therapy

- Both pathogenic and host DNA can trigger innate sensing.
- cGAS is the key enzyme to process cytosolic DNA for innate sensing.
- cGAS-STING is a major pathway for immunity against cancer.

The identification of critical DNA sensors and their pathways has led to revealing the central role of DNA sensing in immune system. It has been initially demonstrated that DNA sensing and immune responses have high impacts on the development and prevention of infection and inflammatory. In addition to toll-like receptor pathways, there is now also emerging evidence that cytosolic enzyme cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is essential for the recognition of not only pathogen-derived DNA but also tumor DNA for innate sensing. The strategies through activating DNA sensing pathways toward enhancing antitumor immunity have shown promise and are further tested in clinical studies. Here, we highlight recent progresses in understanding mechanisms activated by DNA sensing mediated immune responses in cancer therapy.