Volume 16 Issue 6, June 2016

The innate immune receptor LILRA2 (leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor subfamily A member 2) senses microbially cleaved immunoglobulin.

Exposing mice to a dirty environment helps to 'humanize' their immune system.

The Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway also has cytoplasmic functions in selective autophagy that might contribute to an inflammatory pathology of Fanconi anaemia disease.

HOBIT and BLIMP1 identified as universal regulators of tissue residency in lymphocytes.

Akiko Iwasaki describes a 1980 study by Halleret al. that revealed a limitation of using inbred mice to study antiviral responses.

Mice lacking CARD9 have altered microbiota with impaired tryptophan metabolism and therefore increased susceptibility to colitis.

The microbiota and host immune system engage in a complex crosstalk that is being increasingly revealed thanks to advances in technological and computational approaches. Here, the authors highlight some of the microbial metabolites and components that are vital for immune system development and homeostasis.

The skin is home to diverse microbial communities that constantly interact with host epithelial and immune cells. In this Review, the authors summarize how the skin microbiota can control innate and adaptive immunity to skin pathogens, as well as its influence on skin inflammatory diseases.

Infection with cytomegalovirus induces an unusually high level of long-lasting memory T cells that have potent effector functions. Understanding how and why this occurs might help to improve responses to vaccination.

Neutrophils follow a multitude of signals to reach sites of injury or infection. Understanding how this occurs and what the fate of these neutrophils is provides insight into how immune responses are controlled and chronic inflammation is avoided. In this Review, the authors describe the movement of neutrophils during inflammation.

Clinical evidence, including results from randomized controlled clinical trials, strongly suggests that certain live vaccines can reduce all-cause mortality, most probably through protection against non-targeted pathogens. This Opinion article examines the potential immunological mechanisms underlying these effects.