Exploring the mechanisms of microglia activation has revealed insights into the interconnections of the immune system and brain. Huang et al. demonstrate that the complex of sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit alpha (NKAα1) and purinergic P2X7…
EBV glycoprotein gp42 is essential for B cell entry, and identifying sites of vulnerability is important for rational vaccine design. Bu et al. isolated two gp42 mAbs that neutralize EBV infection and block fusion with B cells by distinct mechanisms, d…
Our knowledge concerning the contributions of IL-2 in T cell biology, particularly its role in the development and functional activity of regulatory, effector, and memory T cells and reinvigorating exhausted T cells, continues to advance. These cells d…
Programmed necrosis is mediated by the membrane-damaging pyroptotic and necroptotic proteins, gasdermins and MLKL, respectively. Recent genetic studies highlight the diverse roles of these necrotic cell death effectors in infections, cancer, and wide-s…
Complement proteins form a proteolytic cascade to clear invading microbes. In a recent issue of Cell, Wu et al. and Xu et al. demonstrate two distinct complement systems operating in the gut, independent of circulating complement, and protecting agains…
Plasma cells (PCs) rely on external survival cues for persistence, which limits the size of the PC pool. How, then, are new specificities incorporated into a saturated system? In this issue of Immunity, Simons and Karin put forward a mathematical frame…
Combined anti-PD-L1+anti-CTLA-4 therapy has shown benefits over anti-PD-L1 monotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment in head and neck cancer. In this issue of Immunity, Franken et al. report that CD4+ T cell trafficking from lymph nodes to tumors and expa…
Plasma cells show remarkable longevity in vivo with broad heterogeneity between cells. By developing a minimal mathematical framework, Simons and Karin argue that the longevity and heterogeneity of plasma cell lifespan arise through the fine-tuning of …
The physiological importance of two alternative differentiation pathways for adult megakaryopoiesis is unclear. Li et al. show that megakaryocytes derived from different differentiation pathways have distinct activities and contribute to different phys…
Franken et al. examine the mechanisms that differentiate combined therapy with anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD-L1 from anti-PD-L1 monotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Single-cell analyses of the tumor microenvironment, tumor-draining ly…
