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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2019 Nov 25;63:8–15. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.10.011

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Possible ways of NANP processing in the cellular environment. NANPs complexed with a polycationic carrier enter the cell via scavenger receptor-mediated endocytosis and get recognized by TLRs (e.g., TLR7 for RNA cubes and TLR9 for both RNA cubes and rings). In the cytoplasm, non-functional RNA/DNA hybrid NANPs can dynamically interact with each other to activate pre-programmed functionalities such as the release of Dicer Substrate (DS) RNAs, later processed into siRNAs, and NF-κB decoy containing dsDNAs which prevent NF-κB translocation into the nucleus and the subsequent production of inflammatory cytokines. The use of longer byproduct dsDNAs helps to activate the cGAS-STING pathway leading to the expression of inflammatory genes.