Role of self-organising myddosome oligomers in inflammatory signalling by Toll-like receptors

A paper published in BMC Biology characterises biophysically oligomeric and filamentous structures formed spontaneously by the Toll-like receptor signalling adaptor MyD88. Naturally occurring mutants of MyD88 that cause immunodeficiency are unable to form these structures. By contrast a somatic mutant that promotes the survival of tumour cells forms oligomers much more readily than the wild-type protein. These findings suggest that assembly of oligomeric MyD88 is critical for the regulation of inflammatory signalling.