Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated by cells during viral infection. Pichlmair and colleagues demonstrate a ROS-dependent form of cell death, ‘oxeiptosis’, that resembles apoptosis but uses a pathway distinct from all previously described death pathways.
A previously unknown role is identified for a pathway that involves major histocompatibility complex class I and an inhibitory receptor, LILRB1, that regulates the phagocytosis of cancer cells by macrophages and contributes to resistance directed against the signal-regulatory protein CD47.
Single-cell sequencing identifies novel subtypes of intestinal epithelial cells and their molecular signatures, which reveals new principles for gut homeostasis and the response to infection.
Damaged mitochondria are targeted for mitophagy by the Pink–Parkin ubiquitin pathway. The mitochondrial ATPase Atad3a prevents aberrant activation of Pink and protects hematopoietic stem cells.
Emerging viral diseases present a huge and increasingly important global threat to public health systems. Graham and Sullivan discuss the challenges presented by emerging viral diseases and discuss how innovations in technology and policy can address this threat.
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are known for their copious IFN-I production. Soumelis and colleagues show that functionally and transcriptomically distinct human pDC populations can be generated from a single microbial or cytokine stimulus.
RIG-I is a cytosolic RNA sensor. Gack and colleagues show that herpesviruses, duplex DNA viruses, also activate RIG-I by inducing cytoplasmic translocation and unmasking of an endogenous host 5S ribosomal pseudogene RNA, RNA5SP141.
Host cells display ‘don’t eat me’ signals to protect themselves from phagocytosis. Maute and colleagues identify a novel ‘don’t eat me’ system based on recognition of MHC class I by the phagocyte-expressed inhibitory molecule LILRB1.
Cao and colleagues identify the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF2 as an inhibitor of interferon-dependent antiviral responses that acts by promoting the K33-linked polyubiquitination of STAT1 and its disassociation from DNA.
The survival of hematopoietic stem cells requires tight regulation of mitophagy. Lin and colleagues show that Atad3a regulates mitophagy in these cells by sequestering the mitophagy initiator Pink1 and directing its import via the mitochondrial Tom40–Tim23 complex.