Volume 12 Issue 12, December 2012

FOXO1 has a crucial role in the function of T_Regcells as well as in their commitment.

Crosstalk between the complement and Notch systems regulates human T_H1 cell responses.

T_Reg cells enhance the avidity of CD8⁺T cell responses to foreign antigens.

Expression of MHC class II molecules, CD40 and IL-21R by B10 cells is required for their regulatory function.

Antigen–TCR affinity dictates effector T cell fate by determining the polarity of T cell divisions.

Wild mice carry a promoter polymorphism in an inhibitory receptor gene that predisposes towards autoimmune disease.

A leukaemia therapy shows promise in multiple sclerosis — but at what cost?

Alternative splicing of a hypervariable PRR confers pathogen specificity in insects.

Jenkins and colleagues identify a non-inflammatory role of TLR2 in gastric tumorigenesis.

The identification of NLRC5 as a transcriptional transactivator of MHC class I genes has shed light on the regulation of MHC class I expression. This Progress article summarizes the recent advances in the field and highlights some of the questions that still remain to be addressed.

Secretory IgA is an important first-line defence mechanism that protects mucosal barrier tissues from environmental microorganisms and toxins. Here, the author discusses the pathways that lead to the generation of secretory IgA and proposes a model to describe the variable quality of IgA responses against pathogens and commensals.

Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) contribute to innate immune responses not only through cell death control but also as essential components of pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) signalling. Here, the ubiquitin ligase activity of IAPs downstream of PRR activation is discussed, along with its therapeutic implications.

Here, the authors discuss how the T cell receptors expressed by natural killer T cells are able to recognize and respond to an array of self and foreign lipid antigens that are presented on CD1d molecules. They explain how a better understanding of these processes could be exploited for therapeutic purposes.

New immunoimaging approaches that allow cell dynamics and function to be assessed simultaneously promise another decade of immunological insights in health and disease.