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Commitment by thymocytes to a CD4 or a CD8 lineage depends on T cell receptor–mediated intracellular signaling cues. But new data indicate that T cell lineage fate may also be influenced by the frequency of nonselected cells in the thymic microenvironment during development.
Nef-expressing macrophages induce activation of resting T lymphocytes, permitting productive HIV-1 infection. A recent report in Nature defines just how Nef manipulates macrophage signaling to enhance T cell infectivity.
CpG signaling through TLR9 elicits type 1 cytokine production, which can suppress IgE-associated hypersensitivity reactions. CpG also acts directly on B cells by inducing STAT1-independent T-bet expression.
A family of intracellular molecules called NODs has been proposed to sense bacteria within the cell. New data now show that NOD1 senses a distinct bacterial component and may thus be important in responding to bacteria with this molecular signature.
The identification of BLTA and its ligand B7x adds to the growing list of negative costimulatory molecules that can dampen the adaptive immune response.
The anti-influenza CD8+ T cell response in HLA-A2 adults is dominated by a specific TCR. The crystal structure of the TCR and peptide-MHC complex show unusual interactions that help to explain the molecular basis of this dominant TCR selection.