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Blacher et al. examine the effect of aging on the myeloid circadian clock. They find that aging disrupts circadian transcriptional responses and identify KLF4 as a critical oscillating transcription factor that regulates macrophage gene expression and phagocytosis.
Wang et al. show that the Rictor-dependent mTORC2–Akt pathway is needed to maintain CD4+ memory cells. This axis acts, in part, by suppressing mitoROS generation and subsequent oxidation of membrane phospholipids, which then triggers cell death by ferroptosis.
Zhong et al. exploit allelic variations in mice to pinpoint the ‘heavy lifter’ transcription factor families governing the chromatin landscape of resting and activated T cells.
New data show that, compared with adults, children infected by SARS-CoV-2 preferentially activate pre-existing immunity to endemic common-cold coronaviruses that are cross-reactive with SARS-CoV-2, with potential implications for pediatric vaccine strategies.
Coronavirus-specific antibody and T cell responses were characterized in young children who had been naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2. Immune responses were focused against the spike protein, strong and stable in magnitude, and showed notable cross-reactivity with other human coronaviruses.
Kubo et al. report two kindreds that exhibit a deficiency of iRHOM2, which interacts with ADAM17, leading to defective release of TNF and CD62L and resulting in altered immune responses to opportunistic infections.
SARS-CoV-2 infection is milder in children, but direct comparison with adults is rare. Here the authors show that immune responses are higher in children, retained for 12 months or longer and can neutralize Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.
Shukla, Samaniego-Castruita and colleagues show that loss of TET methylcytosine dioxygenases in B cells is associated with increased DNA–RNA hybrids and G-quadruplex DNA structures in parallel with genomic instability and development of germinal center-derived lymphomas.
Weisel and colleagues provide a resource that phenotypically profiles naive and memory B cells and provides a comparative analysis of memory B cells found in humans versus mice.
The immunological processes occurring in the upper respiratory tract during COVID-19 are relatively poorly understood. Jochems and colleagues observe durable changes in the upper respiratory tract following SARS-CoV-2 infection, including evidence of virus-specific tissue memory T cells.
Ghosh et al. report findings showing that the atypical kinase RIOK2 functions as a winged helix-turn-helix domain containing transcription factor that regulates the differentiation of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells toward erythroid, myeloid and megakaryocytic lineages. RIOK2 enhances GATA1 and KLF1 expression, while suppressing other transcription factors like RUNX3, SPI1 and GATA2.
Zhong et al. utilize B6/Cast F1 hybrid mice to examine transcriptional regulation of T cell gene expression upon activation induced by viral challenge. They describe gene accessibility changes that lead to differential gene expression and report a hierarchy of transcription factor families that mediate the chromatin dynamics.
New research provides evidence of an impaired vitamin D gene signature in CD4+ T cells in patients with severe COVID-19. Mechanistically, it is shown that vitamin D alters the epigenetic landscape of CD4+ T cells, as well as inducing key transcription factors such as STAT3, BACH2 and JUN that reduce levels of IFN-γ and increase IL-10. These changes generate pro-resolving TH1 cells that may be beneficial in resolving or preventing severe COVID-19.
Chronic viral infections can trigger ineffective antibody responses. A new study shows that deletion of B cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1 (BMI-1) from B cells restores protective antibodies during chronic infection.