Volume 16 Issue 3, March 2016

Microbiota-associated biomarkers can predict colitis development following immune checkpoint blockade.

The release of sphingosine-1-phosphate from dying cells activates erythropoietin signalling in macrophages, which enables immunologically silent clearance of dying cells.

A pro-inflammatory innate cell profile at birth is linked to the development of food allergy through promotion of T helper 2-type immune responses.

Unique populations of innate lymphoid cells and innate-like T cells expand in tumours and control tumour growth.

Weaning onto solid food induces regulatory T cell populations in the small intestine that help protect against food allergy.

Fabienne Mackay describes a 2011 paper by Wineret al. that observed an effect of diet on the B cell repertoire.

Enteric bacterial infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In this Review, the authors describe the different types of mucosal defences — including innate and adaptive immune cells, epithelial cells and commensal microorganisms — that protect us against bacterial pathogens in the intestines.

T cells are inherently flexible and can acquire distinct functions to combat different pathogens or changing circumstances. However, this flexibility can be deleterious or advantageous depending on the disease setting. Here, the authors describe the molecular mechanisms that regulate CD4⁺T cell plasticity and how it might be harnessed to treat disease.

The targeting of immunoglobulin loci by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is essential for generating a diverse antibody repertoire. However, AID also has off-target activity in B cells that can lead to oncogenic transformation. Here, the authors review recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms that drive AID promiscuous activity.

This Review focuses on how purinergic signalling pathways regulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. The authors discuss the potential of targeting purinergic signalling pathways for the treatment of ischaemia, organ transplantation, autoimmunity and cancer.

Taking lessons from 'search theory', which is based on migration patterns of animals searching for prey, for example, Krummel and colleagues discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic forces that influence T cell motility patterns as the cell searches for antigen in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues.