Waking the sleeping giant: Single-stranded DNA binds Schlafen 11 to initiate innate immune responses.

Single-stranded DNA containing CGT/A motifs binds to the helicase domain of Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) to initiate cell death and cytokine production via SLFN11 ribonuclease activity (see related Research Article by Zhang et al. ).