Chronic inflammation articles from across Nature Portfolio

Profiling of plasma proteins in individuals with COVID-19 shows that complement activation and myeloid inflammation are major pathways in the pathogenesis of long COVID and identifies distinct profiles of immune dysregulation in individuals with long COVID, highlighting the heterogeneous and diverse nature of this disease.

Here, the authors describe biallelic loss-of-function variants in human SHARPIN in individuals with autoinflammation and immunodeficiency, termed sharpenia. They also successfully treat one of these individuals with TNF inhibitors.

Glucocorticoids reprogram the mitochondrial metabolism of macrophages, resulting in increased and sustained production of the anti-inflammatory metabolite itaconate and, as a consequence, inhibition of the inflammatory response.

Kratchmarov et al. identified a GATA3⁺ T_H2 population that expresses the transcription factors TCF1 and LEF1 and sustains type 2 inflammation in tissues over a human lifetime, despite chronic antigen exposure.

Loss of function mutation studies has provided insights into regulatory T-cell biology. Here Cardinez et al explore the effects of a murine Ikbkb (IKK2) gain of function model and show IKK2 activity results in the expansion of regulatory T cells with partial effector function and suggest an IKK2 dose-dependent relation between psoriatic immunopathology and psoriatic arthritis.

The snake venom toxins responsible for tissue damage, their mechanisms of action and pathological effects are reviewed, together with the search of novel therapeutic alternatives to abrogate their effects

Profiling of plasma proteins in individuals with COVID-19 shows that complement activation and myeloid inflammation are major pathways in the pathogenesis of long COVID and identifies distinct profiles of immune dysregulation in individuals with long COVID, highlighting the heterogeneous and diverse nature of this disease.

The cGAS–STING cytosolic double-stranded-DNA-sensing pathway provides protection against infection but also contributes to inflammatory pathology and thus must be tightly regulated. In this issue, Jie et al. find that endoplasmic-reticulum-associated degradation of the adaptor STING by SEL1L–HRD1 controls steady-state STING levels to limit STING-driven inflammation.

The bone marrow is the daily production site for hundreds of billions of blood cells. A new study adds evidence that, during ageing, signals emanating from bone-marrow stromal cells shift to produce inflammatory factors that skew blood-cell output, driving age-related tissue deterioration.