AIM2 and viral infectious disease: AIM2 is one of the few cytoplasmic DNA sensors known to directly activate inflammasomes, with specific recognition of cytoplasmic dsDNA (whether from bacteria, viruses, or host cells) but not ssDNA or ssRNA, which makes AIM2 particularly important in the detection of DNA viral infections or damage to host DNA.AIM2 is found in a wide range of cell types expression, including immune cells (e.g. monocytes, T cells) and non-immune cells (e.g. epithelial cells).