A member of the IL‐1 receptor (IL‐1R)‐associated kinase (IRAK) family, IRAK4, has been shown to play an essential role in Toll‐like receptor (TLR)‐mediated signaling. IRAK4 kinase‐inactive knockin mice have been shown to be completely resistant to LPS‐ and CpG‐induced shock, due to impaired TLR‐mediated induction of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. A reduction of LPS‐, R848‐ and IL‐1‐mediated mRNA stability contributes to the reduced cytokine and chemokine production in bone marrow (BM)‐derived macrophages from IRAK4 kinase‐inactive knockin mice: however, not all of the TLR/IL‐1R signaling events are ablated in IRAK4 kinase‐inactive knockin mice. A paper in this issue of the European Journal of Immunology shows that, while JNK activation is significantly impaired, NF‐κB and IRF3 activation are retained in the absence of IRAK4 kinase activity. These residual TLR/IL‐1R‐induced signaling events allow the production of some cytokines and chemokines (including TNFα and CXCL1); at early times after the stimulation and induction of a group of TLR‐mediated MyD88/IRAK4‐independent genes in IRAK4 kinase‐inactive knockin cells. Therefore, pharmacological blocking of IRAK4 kinase activity will retain some levels of host defence, while reducing the levels and duration of inflammatory responses, which should provide beneficial therapies for sepsis and chronic inflammatory diseases.

See accompanying article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eji200737886