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.
Compared with that of naive CD8+ T cells, the homeostatic population expansion of naive CD4+ T cells in a lymphopenic environment is limited. New data indicate that this difference is caused by high systemic concentrations of IL-7, which inhibit the function of dendritic cells.
The multifarious fates of CD4+ T helper cells mediate helpful and harmful immunity. An unexpected kinship between 'harmful' interleukin 17–producing T helper cells and 'helpful' follicular T helper cells has now been found.
The transcription factor Foxo1 regulates the homeostasis of naive peripheral T cells by 'translating' nutrient-availability signals into the expression of lymphoid tissue–homing molecules and the receptor for interleukin 7.
New findings show that a subpopulation of mucosal RORγt+ cells expresses natural killer cell receptors and produces interleukin 22. These innate immune cells may be pivotal in maintaining mucosal homeostasis.
Regulation of expression of the gene encoding interleukin 10 by the histone deacetylase HDAC11 emphasizes the ability of an antigen-presenting cell to induce immunity or tolerance in CD4+ T cells.
A systems biology approach provides correlates of successful vaccination, which allows a new method for measuring early vaccine efficiency and suggests hypotheses for the mechanisms that underlie immunogenicity.
ADAR1 catalyzes the deamination of adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA. This RNA-editing enzyme is now shown to be involved in hematopoiesis, where it acts to suppress interferon signaling and to block premature apoptosis.
