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Cognate antigen triggers B cells to undergo antibody maturation and terminal differentiation into antibody-secreting plasma cells. The transcription factor IRF4, which is essential for early B cell development, is also influential at these later stages of B cell development and function.
The body responds to infections by rapidly 'ramping up' production of innate immune cells. New findings indicate that distinct transcription factors regulate 'basal' and 'emergency' leukocyte production.
Successful microarray experimentation can generate enormous amounts of data, potentially very rich but also very unwieldy. Bold outlooks and new methods for data analysis and presentation should yield additional insight into the complexities of the immune system.
RNA interference and chromatin immunoprecipitation are now firmly established as useful methods for studying mechanisms of gene regulation in vivo. Their combined use can help elucidate gene regulation 'logic' by aiding in target gene identification for transcription factors and chromatin-modifying complexes.
Toll 2006, Recent Advances in Pattern Recognition, held in Salvador, Brazil, 4–7 March 2006, was both comprehensive and cutting edge, covering topics ranging from molecular recognition and signaling to new therapies in the clinic.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin, a four helix–bundle cytokine, is expressed mainly by barrier epithelial cells and is a potent activator of several cell types, particularly myeloid dendritic cells. TSLP influences the outcome of interactions between dendritic cells and CD4+ thymocytes and T cells in many situations, such as the regulation of the positive selection of regulatory T cells, maintenance of peripheral CD4+ T cell homeostasis and induction of CD4+ T cell–mediated allergic inflammation.
Dendritic cells initiate immune responses but also influence regulatory T cell activity and homeostasis. Functional outcomes of dendritic cell–T cell interactions depend on the immunological context of their encounter.