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.
L-selectin interacts with specialized glycans on high endothelial venules. Fukuda and colleagues (p 1096) and Rosen and colleagues (p 1105) report two sulfotransferases that function cooperatively to add sulfate esters to specific sugar residues on glycans are essential for L-selectin-mediated lymphocyte homing. The image depicts L-selectin binding (red) and expression of one sulfotransferase (green) on high endothelial venules. See also News and Views by McEver (p 1067). Original fluorescence micrograph by Hiroto Kawashima. Art work by Lewis Long.
The 100th anniversary of Robert Koch's receiving the Nobel Prize reminds us of his achievements as a founder of modern bacteriology and as a forefather of immunology.
L-selectin expressed by lymphocytes interacts with specialized glycans on endothelium to mediate lymphocyte rolling. Two sulfotransferases that act cooperatively to add sulfate esters to a specific sugar residue on glycans are critical for this process.
CD4+ T cells have been classically separated into two dominant effector populations: T helper types 1 and 2. Two new studies suggest that T cells producing interleukin 17 constitute a previously unknown lineage of CD4+ T cells.
Naturally occurring regulatory T cells are key in controlling autoimmune and inflammatory responses. New data indicate that although interleukin 2 signals are not essential for regulatory T cell development in the thymus, they are critical for maintenance of these cells in the periphery.
The B cell antigen receptor complex serves as a 'multipurpose machine'. Two new studies provide mechanistic insights into its activation- and anergy-related functions.
The cellular RNA helicase RIG-I initiates an antiviral response through the activation of several protein kinases. The physical link between RIG-I and these 'downstream' kinases has now been identified.