Review Articles in 2008

The recent resolution of the long-awaited structures of the central components of the complement system — C3 and factor B — has finally revealed the molecular details of complement activation. With this, clues to how complement activation is regulated and evaded by pathogens are also emerging.

The function of the various subclasses of IgG molecules is mediated by the family of Fc receptors for IgG (FcγRs). This Review outlines how FcγRs regulate immune responses and the relevance of this information to developing new therapies for treating human diseases.

Here, the authors describe how the antitumour effects of many conventional cancer treatments involve the immune system, by promoting immunogenic tumour-cell death or by direct stimulation of immune cells. Taking advantage of this 'bystander effect' may help in the fight against cancer.

In this article, Ellen Rothenberg and colleagues review the key transcription factors and other regulatory factors involved in the processes of specification and commitment to the T-cell lineage, and outline the outstanding questions in the field.

Germinal centres are the main source of memory B cells and plasma cells that produce high-affinity antibodies in the body. In this Review, Ulf Klein and Riccardo Dalla-Favera describe the relationship between the cellular and molecular dynamics of germinal centres and the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphomas.