A Logic-Based Framework Diagram of Signalling Pathways Central to Macrophage Activation

The toll-like receptor, interferon, NF-κB and apoptosis pathways are of central importance in defining the macrophages response to pathogens and do so in a highly inter-dependant manner. Although acknowledged in the literature to be highly connected, these pathways are commonly depicted as separate entities rather than an integrated network of molecular interactions. Extensive literature describing the pathways and their interconnectivity, like so many others in biology, is available but only from multiple and disparate sources. In our effort to understand these events as a basis for interpreting analyses of host- thogen interactions and the inflammatory response in the macrophage, we have endeavoured to construct an integrated and logic-based pathway diagram of signalling cascades fundamental to macrophage activation.