Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2012

Mechanosensitive ion channels promote inflammasome activation in response to cell swelling.

Competition for subthreshold ligands may maintain the size and diversity of the peripheral T cell compartment.

PI3Kδ regulates TLR4 signalling by controlling the subcellular localization of TLR4 and TIRAP.

Polyploid tumour cells trigger an immune response through ER stress.

T cell receptor activation thresholds increase with age in naive CD4⁺T cells owing to a loss of miR-181a expression.

Distinguishing natural and induced T_Regcells on the basis of neuropilin 1 expression.

The bitter taste receptor T2R38 regulates antibacterial immune responses in the upper airways.

This Review describes how CD8⁺T cells coordinate signals mediated by antigens, co-stimulatory molecules, pro-inflammatory cytokines and metabolic state to regulate the transcriptional programmes that determine differentiation to diverse effector and memory cell fates.

The recirculation of lymphocytes through lymph nodes and their encounter with dendritic cells is crucial for immunity. Here, the authors review the role of high endothelial venules, lymphatics and lymph node stroma in the trafficking of immune cells in lymph nodes during homeostasis.

Human genetic studies associate defective A20 activity with autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, as well as with cancer. Here, Ma and Malynn discuss the complex mechanisms through which A20 may control immune cell activation and survival, thereby maintaining homeostasis.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in the development and use of humanized mice. The authors consider the remaining challenges and the potential for new advances in our understanding of human immunology through the use of these mice.

There has been a tendency to associate the development of distinct CD4⁺T cell subsets with the expression of 'master regulator' transcription factors. Here, the authors discuss the shortcomings of this model and explain why 'lineage-specifying' may be a more fitting way to describe these key transcription factors.