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Type I interferons have multiple direct and indirect effects on immune cells during infectious diseases. For the most part, they protect the host against infection, but they can also have adverse effects on the host. The existence of complex cross-regulatory networks involving type I interferons helps to ensure host protection with minimum host damage.

In addition to avoiding immune attack in the primary tumour, metastatic cancer cells can harness suppressive immune cells to help promote and protect them from immune surveillance as they travel from the primary tumour site, through blood or lymphatic vessels, to the metastatic site. Thus, targeting pro-metastatic immune cells may offer new therapeutic strategies for treating the major cause of death from cancer — metastatic disease.

The accumulation of cholesterol in macrophages and other immune cells promotes inflammatory responses. Inflammation, in turn, reduces the normal physiological excretion of cholesterol, which amplifies the inflammatory response and promotes myelopoiesis. Here, the authors detail the mechanisms by which cholesterol accumulation affects immune signalling pathways and highlight potential therapeutic interventions that may have benefits for metabolic diseases.

This Review describes the immune responses that occur in the heart, explaining how different innate and adaptive immune cell populations can have beneficial or detrimental roles during cardiac tissue injury. In particular, the authors focus on the unique macrophage subsets that are found in the heart and their roles in regenerating damaged cardiac tissue.

PTEN maintains regulatory T cell lineage stability and immune homeostasis.

RIG-I induces a type III interferon response during hepatitis B virus infection and also directly interferes with viral replication.

Mitochondrial DNA released during apoptosis triggers a type I interferon response that is held in check by the apoptotic caspases.

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells promote beiging of adipose tissue and protect against obesity.

Bacteria in the gut that cross-react with malarial parasites can induce the production of protective natural antibodies.

NLRC4 activation bySalmonellaalters cytoskeletal dynamics to reduce intracellular bacterial burden.

Human memory CD4⁺ T cells primed in vivoby pathogens or vaccines are highly heterogeneous.

The discovery that patients with asthma can be dichotomized according to levels of type 2 inflammation, and hence their response to inhibitors of this pathway, promises to enhance our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and personalized therapies.

Here, two receptors that inhibit T cell functions — programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) and lymphocyte activation gene 3 protein (LAG3) — are reviewed. Their mechanisms of action are discussed in the context of clinical blockade for cancer therapy and potential biomarkers of the efficacy of therapeutic blockade are proposed.

This Review describes how key metabolic processes are differentially regulated in dendritic cells (DCs), both during their development and during their participation in active immune responses. The authors discuss the importance of these changes in cellular metabolism for DC function and also explain how both intracellular and extracellular metabolites shape DC biology.

In this Review, the authors describe the key epigenetic events that are associated with the differentiation and function of cells of the myeloid lineage, with a particular emphasis on monocytes and macrophages. They detail the epigenetic enzymes that control these events and discuss emerging data that show the importance of epigenetic regulation for 'memory-like' behaviour in innate immune cells.

Periodontitis has been linked to systemic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. In this Review, the author summarizes these links and discusses the mechanisms of microbial immune subversion that tip the balance from homeostasis to disease at oral or distant sites.

Macrophages capture HIV-1-infected CD4⁺T cells, which results in robust macrophage infection.

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors target P2X7-dependent inflammasome activation to mediate anti-inflammatory effects.

Seven new studies advance our understanding of immune checkpoint blockade and highlight an approach for developing personalized cancer vaccines.