Trends in Immunology

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 27:S1471-4906(24)00297-7. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.012. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Diverse macrophage populations inhabit the rodent and human central nervous system (CNS), including microglia in the parenchyma and border-associated macrophages (BAMs) in the meninges, choroid plexus, and perivascular spaces. These innate immune phagocytes are essential in brain development and maintaining homeostasis, but they … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 27:S1471-4906(24)00303-X. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.12.001. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare human autoinflammatory disorder with life-threatening systemic effects. Keratinocyte-derived interleukin (IL)-36 signaling has been identified as a key mediator of immune response in the skin of affected individuals. Recognition of various mutations along the IL-36 axis and … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 24:S1471-4906(24)00304-1. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.12.002. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are particularly efficient at evading detection and elimination by the human immune system. Recent data from Yang and collaborators demonstrate that – at least in preclinical hepatocellular carcinoma models – the immunological privilege of CD49f+ TICs can be limited by … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 20:S1471-4906(24)00296-5. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.011. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT When B cells engage in an immune response, metabolic reprogramming is key to meeting cellular energetic and biosynthetic demands. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a highly prevalent gamma-herpesvirus, latently infecting B cells for the human host’s lifetime. By hijacking signaling pathways of T cell-dependent … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 16:S1471-4906(24)00298-9. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.013. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Laboratory mice housed under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions are the standard model in biomedical research. However, experiments with a particular inbred mouse strain performed in different laboratories often yield inconsistent or conflicting data due to housing-specific variations in the composition and diversity of … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 12:S1471-4906(24)00295-3. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.010. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles formed through liquid-liquid phase separation. Innate immunity is essential to host defense against infections, but pathogens also harbor sophisticated mechanisms to evade host defense. The formation of biomolecular condensates emerges as a key biophysical mechanism in host-pathogen interactions, … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Dec 10:S1471-4906(24)00280-1. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.009. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Gopee and colleagues’ recent analyses of diverse high-dimensional datasets of prenatal and adult skin, together with data from complex skin organoids, uncover the important contributions of macrophages in modulating prenatal skin development, scarless wound healing, and angiogenesis. These findings identify a role for … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Nov 26:S1471-4906(24)00249-7. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.10.003. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is an established therapeutic target in cancer. PRC2 catalyzes methylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and is known for maintaining eukaryote cell identity. Recent discoveries show that modulation of PRC2 not only impacts cell differentiation … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Nov 27:S1471-4906(24)00275-8. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.004. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Chronic antigen exposure is frequently associated with T cell exhaustion. In a recent study, Aljobaily et al. show that pancreatic islet-infiltrating CD4+ T cells in mouse autoimmune diabetes may circumvent exhaustion by preserving TCF1 expression. Continuous recruitment of epigenetically pre-programmed CD62L+ CD4+ T … Read more

Trends Immunol. 2024 Nov 27:S1471-4906(24)00278-3. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2024.11.007. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT In the battle against cancer, researchers are exploring the use of engineered bacteria as living medicines. Redenti and colleagues demonstrate that Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) can be engineered to deliver cancer neoantigen payloads, stimulating antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and mediating … Read more