Articles in 2020

Recently, antibody-mediated control of HIV infection has received considerable attention. Here, the authors discuss the importance of CD8⁺ T cells in HIV infection and suggest that efforts to develop vaccines that target these cells in conjunction with B cells should be renewed.

Plant root cells upregulate pattern recognition receptors for bacteria in response to damage to neighbouring cells.

McGinley et al. describe a new role for IL-17A in the induction phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by indirectly recruiting IL-1β-producing myeloid cells.

Researchers identify a new population of cytotoxic T cells that recognize the non-polymorphic MHC class I-related molecule MR1 on multiple different cancer cells, raising the prospect of its use as T cell-based therapy for multiple cancers.

Immune subversion by primary tumours plays a key role in metastatic spread. This Review explores how primary tumours interfere with the crosstalk between immune cells to promote a chronic inflammatory yet immunosuppressed state that enables immune evasion and the formation of metastases.

The ‘shock-and-kill’ strategy aims to eradicate HIV by luring the virus out of hiding, followed by killing of the virus and any infected cells. Two reports now demonstrate robust approaches to achieve the first step of such a strategy.

In this Review, the authors encourage us to extend our concept of memory by considering the diverse cell types within a barrier tissue. They propose that any long-term resident or essential tissue cell type can store memory of previous immune events and cooperate in memory recall.

This Review considers how IgA operates alongside IgM, IgG and IgD to provide immune protection and promote homeostasis at mucosal tissue sites. The authors highlight how some of these neglected mucosal antibody isotypes may strengthen the communication between the mucosal and systemic immune compartments.

This Review describes the breakdown of ‘mucosal firewalls’ in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, involving immunological pathways that regulate microbial recognition and killing, immune responses to microorganisms and the reinforcement of the intestinal barrier.

Getting medicines to the right place at the right time is key to their success. Nanomedicines — drugs formulated in carrier materials that are smaller than 100 nm — show promise in enhancing tumour immunotherapy, owing to the ability to focus their action on target tissues and control their immunomodulatory properties, as reviewed here.

Jennifer Gommerman discusses a 2008 paper by Sidonia Fagarasan and colleagues showing that isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs) in the gut can function as inductive sites for the generation of IgA-producing plasma cells in the absence of T cell help.

This Review discusses the various ways in which B cells, plasma cells and antibodies shape the immune response in cancer. B cells can have both protumour and antitumour roles, and the authors discuss the potential of targeting these cells for therapy.

VEGF-C enhances T cell priming against brain tumours and improves the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade in a model of glioblastoma.

The host aryl hydrocarbon receptor can detect various quorum-sensing molecules produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which may allow host immune cells to tune their response according to the bacterial density.

Freeman and colleagues draw our attention to the existence of different forms of PDL1 — cell bound and various extracellular forms. Recent studies show that PDL1 on exosomes can inhibit antitumour immune responses and may be a useful biomarker for the management of cancer immunotherapy.

Rémy Bosselut describes a 2001 paper by Jordan et al. showing that CD25⁺ regulatory T cells can be selected on self-peptides, which provided important insights into mechanisms of thymic tolerance.

T cells expressing programmed cell death 1 (PD1) have been considered the main targets of immune checkpoint blockade therapy. But a new study shows that targeting PD1 on myeloid cells reprogrammes tumour-induced myelopoiesis to favour maturation of effector myeloid cells that promote antitumour immunity.

Hai Qi describes a 2007 paper by Jason Cyster and colleagues that identified PD1 as a marker for T follicular helper cells.

Studies of immune checkpoint therapy for cancer in 2019 uncovered critical insights into the differences between targeting CTLA4 versus PD1 and the role of particular T cell subsets in immune responses to cancer. Moreover, reverse translational studies are informing our understanding of resistance and response mechanisms in patients.