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Recent research has shown that the interaction of sphingosine-1-phosphate with its receptors (S1PR1–S1PR5) has an essential role in regulating immune responses, not only through the control of immune-cell trafficking but also through effects on immune-cell function. Understanding these effects holds promise for the use of S1PR ligands as immunomodulatory therapeutics.
The anatomy of secondary lymphoid organs defines the ability of an organism to respond to pathogens. In this Review, the authors describe how the functional microarchitecture of these structures is both a determinant and a result of antimicrobial immunity.
Sepsis is an overwhelming systemic inflammatory response to severe microbial infection or extensive tissue damage. In this Review, the authors highlight recent molecular data that help to unravel the mechanisms that underlie dysregulation of immune responses in this syndrome.
What determines whether a developing thymocyte becomes a CD4+ or CD8+T cell has been an issue of longstanding debate. Here, the authors review the models that have been proposed to explain CD4/CD8-lineage choice and update us on the environmental and transcription factors that might mediate this decision.
Atherosclerosis is now widely considered to be a chronic inflammatory disease that is driven by the activities of many leukocyte subpopulations. Here, the authors describe the contribution of different immune-cell subsets to each stage of the disease, revealing complex and dynamic interactions.
The activation of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-coupled receptors influences signalling pathways downstream of other receptor types. In this Opinion, Lionel Ivashkiv describes how ITAM-dependent signalling can differentially influence cellular responses to Toll-like-receptor ligands and cytokines.