TLR7 and viral infectious disease: Fluorescence microscopy showed that in PBS-treated mice, neurofilament integrity was intact in the cortexes of both WT and TLR7-/- mice, whereas upon EV71 infection, the integrity of neurofilaments was disrupted and the levels of neurofilaments were reduced with the progressive viral infection in the cortex of EV71-infected WT mice relative to TLR7-/- mice (Fig 3G), indicating that TLR7 plays a critical role in facilitating EV71-induced neurodegeneration and neuropathogenesis.