Human oviductal epithelial cells express Toll-like receptor 3 and respond to double-stranded RNA: Fallopian tube-specific mucosal immunity against viral infection

Abstract

These results suggest that the epithelial cells of the human Fallopian tube have evolved a unique, site-specific mechanism for recognizing viral infection. TLR3-mediated production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in OECs in response to viral dsRNA may be important for antiviral immunity in the human female reproductive tract.