Fecal transplants

Alex Khoruts and Michael Sadowsky provide an intriguing commentary on the potential benefits and pitfalls of transplanting distal gut microbiota for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. See page 4

Microbial discrimination

Philippe Sansonetti discusses the discrimination between pathogens and commensal bacteria at mucosal surfaces, a fundamental issue confronting mucosal immunologists. See page 8

Adaptive immunity in host–commensal mutualism

Ting Feng and Chuck Elson examine the essential role of the adaptive immune system in establishing a mutualistic relationship between commensal bacteria and the host. See page 15

Helicobacter hepaticus

Jim Fox and colleagues provide a scholarly review of the discovery, immunology, and virulence traits of Helicobacter hepaticus, a cause of chronic liver and colon inflammation as well as colorectal cancer in several mouse models. See page 22

Intestinal macrophages

Phil Smith and colleagues adeptly address the unique functional phenotype of resident intestinal macrophages and monocytes recruited during infection and inflammation. See page 31

Intestinal bacteria boost airway Treg function

Deborah Strickland and colleagues demonstrate the ability of gut bacteria to boost baseline regulatory T-cell function as a means of controlling airway hyperresponsiveness in a rat model of asthma. See page 43

Oral bacterial extract inhibits airway inflammation

Séverine Navarro and colleagues demonstrate that oral administration of Broncho-Vaxom, a commercially available bacterial extract, prevents inflammation in a mouse model of asthma. See page 53

Integrin expression on mucosal T cells

Seung Kang and colleagues demonstrate coordinated effects of retinoic acid and transforming growth factor-β on integrin expression by mucosal homing lymphocytes. See page 66

IL-4 responsiveness of airway smooth muscle cells

William Horsnell and colleagues describe the contribution of interleukin-4Rα responsiveness by smooth muscle cells in driving T helper type 2–dependent mucus production in the lung during infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. See page 83

Immature thymocytes as precursors for CD8αα IELs

Studies by Laetitia Peaudecerf and colleagues indicate that a population of very immature CD44+ thymocytes can give rise to CD8αα intraepithelial lymphocytes in the intestine. See page 93

Secretory IL-1 receptor antagonist

Frederic Carvalho and colleagues demonstrate a critical role for Toll-like receptor-5–dependent secretory interleukin-1 receptor antagonist secretion by epithelial cells in controlling intestinal inflammation. See page 102

HLA-gliadin peptide chimeric proteins

Jianya Huan and colleagues describe the ability of single-chain recombinant HLA-DQ2.5-gliadin peptide chimeric proteins to inhibit the responses of T cells in patients with celiac disease. See page 112