Participates in the innate immune response to microbial agents. Acts via MYD88 and TRAF6, leading to NF-kappa-B activation, cytokine secretion and the inflammatory response. Plays a role in preventing infection of internal organs of the urogenital system. Binds MYD88 via their respective TIR domains. Macrophages, liver, kidney and bladder epithelial cells. Has increased susceptibility to the uropathogenic E.coli strain 8NU. Following infection, kidneys show a significantly increased bacterial load and increased inflammatory response, whereas bladder shows a similar response to wild type. Belongs to the Toll-like receptor family. There is some confusion regarding the nomenclature of this gene. In the literature, Tlr12 is frequently referred to as Tlr11 and vice-versa. In some plant proteins and in human SARM1, the TIR domain has NAD(+) hydrolase (NADase) activity (By similarity). However, despite the presence of the catalytic Asp residue, the isolated TIR domain of human TLR4 lacks NADase activity (By similarity). Based on this, it is unlikely that Toll-like receptors have NADase activity.