Viral / intracellular infection
Nucleic-acid sensing drives type I interferon, NK activation, antigen presentation, CD8 expansion, and IFN-gamma macrophage activation.
Signals
Cells
Questions
Pitfalls
clinical pattern
Interferon tone, NK/CD8 surveillance, macrophage activation, and exhaustion risk
Review layer
Last reviewed 2026-05-17
Systems teaching draft. Content is structured for education and graph expansion, with formal source tagging ready for the next review pass.
Provenance layer
Curated external IDs add pathway and protein context around Atlas content. They do not update the graph automatically and they are not patient-specific interpretation.
State signature
System effects
Primary mapped axes from existing Atlas data.
Chronicity
Memory, priming, fibrosis, exhaustion, remodeling, or other time-dependent drift.
No direct axis cue is mapped for this node yet.
Tissue
Organ, barrier, stromal, vascular, or local niche behavior.
Metabolism
Energy allocation, glycolysis, mitochondrial strain, lipid signaling, or nutrient-sensitive behavior.
No direct axis cue is mapped for this node yet.
Pattern signature
Signals
01IFN-gamma
type I interferons
IL-12
CXCL10
TNF-alpha
Cells
02dendritic cells
NK cells
CD8 T cells
TH1 cells
macrophages
Tissues
03lung
mucosal lymphoid
spleen
CNS
Restraint
04IL-10
Tregs
checkpoint pathways
antigen clearance
tissue repair programs
Graph neighborhood
Context link: no causal arrow.
IFN-gamma anchors TH1, cytotoxic, macrophage-activating antiviral and intracellular pathogen programs
Context link: no causal arrow.
CD8 T cells execute cytotoxic containment and can enter exhaustion under chronic antigen load
Context link: no causal arrow.
TH1 help reinforces interferon tone and macrophage activation in intracellular pathogen states
Context link: no causal arrow.
Dendritic cells translate nucleic-acid sensing into interferon and T-cell priming programs
Context link: no causal arrow.
NK cells bridge innate interferon biology and cytotoxic containment before full T-cell expansion
Pattern logic
Look for intracellular-pathogen pressure, interferon-driven sickness behavior, cytotoxic activation, lymphocyte trafficking, and chronic antigen states that may drift toward T-cell exhaustion.
Pathogen-class context
Nucleic-acid sensing drives type I interferon, NK activation, antigen presentation, CD8 expansion, and IFN-gamma macrophage activation.
Signals
Cells
Questions
Pitfalls
Classical adaptive clearance is limited; the systems question is microglial activation, proteinopathy handling, neuroinflammation, and tissue degeneration rather than neutralization.
Signals
Cells
Questions
Pitfalls