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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1540774

Exploring the role of mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein in cardiac diseases

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Department of Cardiology, Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Children's Hospital, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) was first discovered as an activator of NF-κB and IRF3 in response to viral infection in 2005. As a key innate immune adapter that acts as an 'on/off' switch in immune signaling against most RNA viruses. Upon interaction with RIG-I, MAVS aggregates to activate downstream signaling pathway. The MAVS gene, located on chromosome 20p13, encodes a 540-amino acid protein that located in the outer membrane of mitochondria.MAVS protein was ubiquitously expressed with higher levels in heart, skeletal muscle, liver, placenta and peripheral blood leukocytes. Recent studies have reported MAVS to be associated with various conditions including cancers, systemic lupus erythematosus, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. This article provides a comprehensive summary and description of MAVS research in cardiac disease, encompassing structure, expression, protein-protein interactions, modifications, as well as the role of MAVS in heart disease. It is aimed to establish a scientific foundation for the identification of potential therapeutic target.

    Keywords: MAVS, NLRP3, Heart disease, innate immune, Inflammation

    Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Qi, Yin, Xia and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Weiwei Xia, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Children's Hospital, Nanjing, China
    Shiwei Yang, Department of Cardiology, Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.