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This Review, aimed at a broad scientific audience, provides an introductory guide to the history, development and immunological basis of vaccines, immunization and related issues to provide insight into the challenges facing immunologists who are designing the next generation of vaccines.
As the world races to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, Dai and Gao highlight which viral targets are best to include in a vaccine and how this impacts the induced immune response and, ultimately, the safety and efficacy of a vaccine.
Metabolic pathways play a central role in determining the fate and function of immune cells, and cellular activation induces profound changes in their oxidation–reduction (redox) system. Here, Muri and Kopf examine the crosstalk between metabolic and redox pathways and discuss their role in the proliferation, survival and function in T cells, B cells and macrophages.
A systematic analysis of the ageing immune system of the mouse revealed the emergence of a novel T cell subset that displays markers of exhaustion. A similar T cell subset was also identified in ageing humans.
The structures of activated nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs) in plants and animals reveal a common principle of NLR activation, but allow different modes of non-self recognition and the initiation of different immune signalling and cell death pathways.
A recent study in Science describes that maternal allergen-specific IgE can cross the placenta to sensitize fetal mast cells in mice and predispose to neonatal allergy.
In this Perspective, Alon and colleagues discuss how insights into immune cell trafficking during pneumotropic influenza virus infections may inform our understanding of immune cell recruitment to the respiratory tract in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Moreover, they examine the emerging knowledge of vascular pathologies beyond the lung caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Cell death recognition can result in a multitude of distinct effector responses. Here, the authors discuss a framework for determining the specific effector response to cell death that relies on its recognition, contextual environmental signals and the identity of the efferocyte.
This report shows that trained immunity, a form of innate immune memory, can be induced through nanobiologics and that these have anticancer properties and can sensitize to checkpoint therapy.
Glucocorticoid treatment is used to suppress the immune system in various disease settings. However, endogenous glucocorticoids are able to promote as well as inhibit different aspects of T cell immunity. Here, the authors discuss the many ways in which T cell responses are shaped by glucocorticoids.
Upregulation of the protease ADAMTS4 by activated fibroblasts drives immunopathology in the lungs and respiratory failure during severe viral infections.
Are you new to virus research and trying to interpret the ever-expanding literature on immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)? Here, the authors compare the different assays and animal models used to measure immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection and reconcile differences in apparent potency of antibodies assessed in different assays.
Reconstitution of the immune system after depletion by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, infection or transplantation is crucial to maintain protection from infection and to respond to immune-based therapy. Here the authors describe the ways in which a diverse T cell compartment can be restored, focusing on therapeutic strategies that drive the production of new T cells.
In this Comment article, Sandy Douglas and Adrian Hill discuss the immunological considerations associated with a risk–benefit analysis for controlled human infection models of SARS-CoV-2.
The tetracycline antibiotic doxycycline is shown to not only have direct antimicrobial effects but also promote disease tolerance mechanisms, including tissue repair and metabolic reprogramming.
A number of T cell-intrinsic peripheral tolerance mechanisms (quiescence, ignorance, anergy, exhaustion, senescence and cell death) restrain autoimmunity and overactive immune responses. Here, the authors provide an integrated perspective of peripheral T cell tolerance by comparing the molecular mechanisms that govern these checkpoints and discussing their role in T cell tolerance and fate regulation.
