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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.
In this Year in Review, Donna Farber discusses some of the exciting breakthroughs that occurred in the T cell field in 2019, highlighting the therapeutic implications for our understanding of T cell function in infection, allergy, inflammatory disease and cancer.
Here, Marco Colonna and Simone Brioschi highlight several key papers from 2019 that used single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing to provide exciting insights into the neuro-immune interactions that occur in the healthy and diseased brain.
Studies in the field of inflammation in 2019 have highlighted a counterbalancing homeostatic function for the glycolytic metabolite lactate, which is produced in hypoxic conditions, such as in tumours and chronic inflammation. Lionel Ivashkiv describes how lactate suppresses inflammatory signalling pathways and regulates macrophage polarization.
In 2019, single-cell sequencing studies provided important insight into the diverse gene expression profiles of tissue macrophages, and new systems for specifically deleting macrophages were reported. A lactate ‘timer’ that controls inflammatory responses in macrophages was also described.
Single-cell sequencing studies in 2019 have led to exciting discoveries relevant to the roles of the immune system in development, homeostasis and disease.
In the past year, researchers have gained a deeper understanding of the interactions between immune cells and microbially derived metabolites. Wendy Garrett describes the new insights into the receptors, immune cells and pathways triggered by microbial metabolites.
Several studies from 2019 have highlighted emerging routes of communication between tissue-resident immune cells and local neurons, stromal cells, endothelial cells and epithelial cells to exert effects beyond the local tissue.
New approaches to vaccine development have generated exciting results over the past 18 months. Focusing on respiratory syncytial virus infection, influenza and tuberculosis, Fauci and Mascola discuss the impact of structure-based vaccine design, gene-based vaccine platforms and advances in adjuvant development.
The field of immunometabolism (both on the cellular as well as on the organismal level) is advancing rapidly. This article highlights several studies from 2018 that examine how immune cells can regulate systemic metabolism, as well as studies of the impact of organismal metabolism on the immune system in conditions such as obesity and cancer.
Several clinical studies in 2018 documented the potency of therapies based on T cells with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR T cells), but also revealed mechanisms of resistance. These insights may facilitate the design of improved CAR T cell therapies for B cell malignancies and beyond.
Recent research in mucosal immunology has uncovered novel lines of communication between the mucosal immune system and other cellular and metabolic pathways. Given the complexity of these networks, new precision approaches are being developed to dissect the contribution of specific pathways or selected microorganisms.
After many years of being largely neglected in neurodegenerative disease, the past few years have seen a turning point in the field’s view on the impact of microglia in neurological disorders.
Our knowledge of how the immune system changes with age has benefitted from a growing appreciation of the importance of systems-level analyses in humans. We are now beginning to uncover the global patterns of immune system development and decline in the young and the elderly.
The study of B cell biology is a mature field, but highlights from the past year remind us that there are still many exciting and unexpected things to be discovered in terms of B cell responses to antigen, germinal centres and plasma cells.
The field of innate immunity has been rapidly evolving and expanding its horizons during the past few years. 2018 was no exception, with the publication of several ground-breaking studies that bring into light new activators, regulators and signalling networks that drive innate immune responses and inflammation.
The generation of an HIV vaccine remains the holy grail for eliminating HIV infection worldwide. Major advances in 2018 centred on sequential multi-immunogen strategies that are designed to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies, identifying new targets and defining new approaches to immunogen evaluation.
In 2017, epidemiological studies in humans and experiments in mouse models showed that the intestinal microbiota determines the effectiveness of anticancer immunotherapies. As such the microbiota offers new prognostic biomarkers and shows promise as a target for future antineoplastic treatments.
Monocytes and tissue macrophages represent two main branches of the mononuclear phagocyte system, and they have complementary roles during immunological challenges. Several studies published in 2017 highlighted the distinct properties of these two cell types and furthered our understanding of their development and cellular functions.
