Volume 7 Issue 5, May 2007

Natural killer cells were so named because of their ability to lyse tumour cells. Although initial studies have provided encouraging results, several challenges remain in optimizing the use of NK cells in therapeutic settings, as is described in this Review.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an important clinical problem in haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Here, Warren Shlomchik describes advances in our understanding of this complex disease and the cells that are involved in its initiation and development, based on studies from experimental models.

In this Review, Luke O'Neill and Andrew Bowie discuss the role of the five adaptor proteins that are involved in Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling, and provide a detailed molecular description of the earliest phase of TLR signal transduction.

Signalling through the high-affinity Fc receptor for IgE (FcεRI) mediates many of the features of allergic diseases. This Review provides an update of the FcεRI signalling pathways, induced with and without antigen, and how their regulation by inhibitory receptors may have therapeutic potential.

The neonatal immune system faces a number of unique immunological challenges as the newborn moves from the sterile intra–uterine environment to a world rich in foreign antigens. How does the innate immune system deal with these challenges and what are the clinical correlations?

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the aetiological agent of Kaposi's sarcoma, establishes a persistent infection in its host. To do this the virus must evade detection by the immune system. But what mechanisms does the virus employ to do this?

The DRiP hypothesis proposes that most peptides that bind to MHC class I molecules are derived from newly synthesized defective proteins. Here, the authors revise this hypothesis and propose that some peptides result from the random delivery of unchaperoned nascent polypeptides to the proteasome.