The adaptation of macrophages—the most common tissue-resident immune cells—to metabolic and microbial cues with high local variability is essential for the maintenance of organ integrity. In homeostasis, macrophages show largely predictable…

Communication between the nervous and immune systems is evolutionarily conserved. From primitive eukaryotes to higher mammals, neuroimmune communication utilizes multiple complex and complementary mechanisms to trigger effective but balanced responses …

Throughout biology, the pursuit of genotype-phenotype relationships has provided foundational knowledge upon which new concepts and hypotheses are built. Genetic perturbation, whether occurring naturally or in experimental settings, is the mainstay of …

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are evolutionarily conserved T cells that recognize microbial metabolites. They are abundant in humans and conserved during mammalian evolution, which suggests that they have important nonredundant functions….

Initially discovered for its role mediating the deleterious effects of environmental contaminants, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is now known to be a crucial regulator of the immune system. The expanding list of AHR ligands includes synthetic and…

The mucosal surfaces of the body are the most vulnerable points for infection because they are lined by single or multiple layers of very active epithelial cells. The main protector of these cells is the mucus system generated by the specialized goblet…

Prosurvival tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily (TNFRSF) members on T cells, including 4-1BB, CD27, GITR, and OX40, support T cell accumulation during clonal expansion, contributing to T cell memory. During viral infection, tumor necrosis…

The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infections at a global level reflects the repeated emergence of variant strains encoding unique constellations of mutations. These variants have been generated principally because of a dynamic host immune landscape, the co…

Infections have imposed strong selection pressures throughout human evolution, making the study of natural selection’s effects on immunity genes highly complementary to disease-focused research. This review discusses how ancient DNA studies, which have…

Human Immune System (HIS) mice constructed with mature human immune cells or with human hematopoietic stem cells and thymic tissue have provided an important tool for human immunological research. In this article, we first review the different types of…