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.
Four new papers focused on how interleukin 10–producing cells are induced have led to some unexpected and intriguing observations on the nature of interleukin 17–producing T helper cells.
Many additional effects in HIV pathogenesis are now described for the chemokine receptor CCR5, long recognized as an important coreceptor for HIV, and its ligand CCL3L1.
Thymus-derived regulatory T cells are thought to suppress target cells by either a cell contact–dependent mechanism or the production of inhibitory cytokines. A new study suggests a third strategy of apoptosis induced by the consumption of interleukin 2 and other T cell growth factors by regulatory T cells.
Inhibition of phagocyte activity depends on the ligation of SIRP-α by CD47. New findings show that Sirpa polymorphisms influence the engraftment and tolerance of xenogeneic transplants in NOD-SCID mice.
Interleukin 15 (IL-15) is essential for natural killer (NK) cell development and function, and the adaptor DAP10 transmits important signals in NK cells. New work shows that IL-15 and DAP10 cross regulate each other.
The mitogen-activated protein kinases Erk and p38 transduce Toll-like receptor signals that lead to antigen capture by dendritic cells. New work identifies 'downstream' effector kinases essential for these responses and traces a pathway of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling apparently unique to dendritic cells.
Two papers in this issue report the isolation and characterization of a common clonal bone marrow precursor of plasmacytoid and conventional dendritic cells.
A new study demonstrates involvement of the inhibitory receptor CTLA-4 in T cell exhaustion during infection with human immunodeficiency virus, adding complexity and diversity to the inhibitory pathways regulating T cell responses during chronic viral infections in humans.
The survival of naive CD8+ T cells depends on the receipt of 'tonic' T cell receptor signals, but overt self-reactivity must be avoided. New work traces an intricate regulatory loop responsible for 'tuning' CD8 coreceptor expression to a 'balance point' appropriate for each T cell receptor.
Differential splicing generates thousands of isoforms of the arthropod cell surface receptor Dscam. A new study explains the ability of these receptors to simultaneously generate homophilic and heterophilic interaction surfaces.
Respiratory proteins of vertebrates (hemoglobin) and invertebrates (hemocyanin) can generate highly reactive oxygen intermediates. New work shows that microbial compounds directly activate this release of reactive oxygen intermediates that kills the microbes.
For both mice and humans, an invariant T cell receptor mediates the recognition of glycolipid antigens presented in the context of CD1d molecules. Crystal structure and mutagenesis-based analyses now identify a minimalist binding mode well suited to an 'innate-style' pattern-recognition function.
T cells interact with chemokines displayed on cells outside and inside blood vessels of the lymph node. New work shows that these chemokines exert distinct activation effects on T cell integrins depending on their mechanical environment.
A new subset of interleukin 17–producing CD4+ helper T cells with diverse functions has now been identified. New work by three groups substantially broadens the understanding of these cells in both mice and humans.
Studies of genetically modified reporter mice have provided insight into the development of regulatory T cells. New work shows that regulatory T cells producing interleukin 10 arise in the periphery from Foxp3+ and Foxp3− thymic progenitors.
A new study in Nature identifies a long-sought cytoplasmic 'sensor' that is responsible, at least in part, for interferon responses induced by double-stranded DNA.
Specialized macrophage-like cells initiate antibody responses by trapping antigen in lymph. These antigen-trapping cells are located in the migration pathway of recirculating B cells, which can engage the trapped antigen.
Transcription factor GATA-3 is essential for T lineage development. New data suggest that GATA-3 also can have a determining function in mast cell lineage development.
