Volume 13 Issue 10, October 2013

TLR4 activation by fibrinogen cleavage products may contribute to allergic airway inflammation.

Oxidative damage to self and foreign DNA potentiates its detection by the innate immune system.

Lung dendritic cells imprint CD4⁺T cells with lung-homing and gut-homing receptors.

Pain associated with acute bacterial infection is not secondary to immune activation but is directly induced by bacteria themselves.

The metabolic regulator AMPK controls macrophage skewing during muscle repair.

Early development of B cells can occur in the gut in response to resident microorganisms.

In this Review, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the role of macrophage dynamics in determining the initiation, progression and regression of atherosclerotic inflammation. Understanding the factors that determine the inflammatory state of the plaque may help to identify potential therapeutic targets for plaque regression.

It is increasingly understood that autophagy is an ancient defence mechanism that has become incorporated into numerous immunological pathways. As discussed in this Review, its immunological roles include the elimination of microorganisms, the control of inflammation, the regulation of antigen presentation and lymphocyte homeostasis, and the secretion of immune mediators.

Chronic kidney disease affects approximately 10% of the Western population. Recent studies have elucidated some of the immune mechanisms that contribute to kidney injury and disease, which are described in this Review. In addition, the contribution of the kidneys to immune homeostasis and the effects of kidney failure on systemic immune functions are discussed.

This Innovation article describes the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for image-guided immune cell delivery and for the visualization of immune cell homing and engraftment, inflammation, cell physiology and gene expression.

Here, the authors present a new theoretical framework — the discontinuity theory — to account for how the immune system generates an appropriate immune response to any perceived disturbance. On the the basis of this theory, the authors present a mathematical model and provide examples to explain how this model can account for diverse immune responses.