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Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) develop chronic lung infections that lead to progressive airway destruction. Karp and colleagues (p 388; News and Views by Shimizu and colleagues p 357) show that patients with CF produce less lipoxin, making them more susceptible to neutrophil-mediated inflammatory damage and promoting conditions for bacterial infection. Painting in oil on panel by Lewis Long.
Although the field of regulatory T cells has experienced a resurgence in recent years, the term 'suppressor T cell' has remained taboo. The explanation for this contradictory reaction to similar phenomena can be traced to the historical discovery and definition of each cell type.
Leukocytes are arrested on endothelial cells before moving through vessel intercellular junctions. The identification of another β2 integrin–dependent step may provide insights into the events and signals required for transmigration.
The regulated expression of Rag genes in lymphocytes ensures the expression of a single antigen receptor on the lymphocyte surface. It now seems that a complex 'ballet' of activating and silencing elements controls the precise timing of Rag expression in thymocytes.
HIV-1 is unable to infect cells from most nonhuman primates. In a recent Nature paper, a cellular protein of monkey cells, TRIM5α, was shown to be responsible for this inhibition.
One of the hallmarks of cystic fibrosis is the propensity of patients to develop lung infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which eventually compromises lung function. New data suggest loss of CFTR impairs lipoxin production, thus preventing resolution of lung inflammation and creating an environment susceptible to further infection.
Given the right sequence of cues, embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell type found in the body. New work shows how manipulation of supportive stromal cells to provide essential Delta-Notch interactions allows embryonic stem cells to develop into functional T lymphocytes during in vitro culture.