Volume 15 Issue 2, February 2014

Proteomics based on high-resolution mass spectrometry has become a powerful tool for the analysis of protein abundance, modifications and interactions. Here we describe technical aspects of proteomics workflows, instrumentation as well as computational considerations to obtain high-quality proteomics data.

Dudley and colleagues review some of the computational analysis tools for high-dimensional data and how they can be applied to immunology.

Love and colleagues review the limitations of bulk measurements for monitoring the immune system and explore advances in single-cell technologies that overcome these problems.

Acute inhibition of the regulatory kinase Csk reveals additional checkpoints for full activation of thymocytes via the T cell antigen receptor.

In addition to its canonical role in reverse cholesterol transport, high-density lipoprotein can suppress inflammation in target cells through the induction of Atf3, which encodes a well-known transcriptional repressor.

Gene-expression signatures of the human vaccine response can be complex and noisy. Li et al. develop a new collection of gene-expression modules and use it to compare the response to five different vaccines.

IL-17 production by neutrophils has been reported in human psoriasis. Pearlman and colleagues identify a population of neutrophils that constitutively express the transcription factor RORγt and can produce and respond to IL-17A.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) has beneficial effects in coronary artery disease. Latz and colleagues show that HDL's benefits stem at least in part by activating an anti-inflammatory program dependent on the transcription factor ATF3.

Dendritic cell (DC) subsets show functional specialization. Singh and colleagues demonstrate that the transcription factor IRF4 enhances antigen presentation by MHC class II in CD11b⁺ DCs to promote the priming of CD4⁺ effector T cells.

Transcriptional complexes can polymerize and bind adjacent binding sites. Vinkemeier and colleagues show that STAT1 cooperativity is required downstream of type 2 interferonsignaling but not for type 1 interferon–induced immune responses.

CD1a-autoreactive T cells are common in human skin, but their natural antigens have remained unknown. De Jong and colleagues show that apolar oils that naturally accumulate in epidermis and sebum nest within CD1a and are activatory.

The kinase Csk inhibits basal TCR signaling. Weiss and colleagues reveal a requirement for CD28 costimulation upon Csk inhibition for facilitation of actin remodeling and activation of signaling pathways downstream of the phospholipase PLC-γ1.

Pulendran and colleagues use a systems biology analysis to reveal distinct transcriptional signatures of antibody responses to different classes of human vaccines.