Volume 10 Issue 2, February 2010

Understanding parasite immune evasion strategies.

Scavenger receptor CD36 drives TLR heterodimer assembly and inflammatory signalling.

T cell TLR4 upregulates phosphatases to block TCR signals and prevent colitis.

Bacterial effector protein that induces immune suppression identified.

A new adipose tissue-associated T_H2-type innate lymphocyte population identified.

Non-classical MHC present diverse peptides to alert CD8⁺T cells to sick cells.

Igh3′ regulatory region functions from afar to activate translocated oncogenes.

How does mTOR integrate signals from antigen, costimulatory and cytokine receptors in CD8⁺T cells?

A molecular alarm call for peripheral tissue antigen genes in mTECs.

Tumour-derived LXR ligands inhibit CCR7 expression and block DC functions.

This Review provides a comprehensive and contemporary overview of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family: their expression and regulation, their effects on innate immune cells, their regulation of adaptive immune responses and their roles in immune-mediated diseases.

The most recently described member of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family, IL-33, as described in this Review, has an important role in immune regulation, as well as in infectious and inflammatory diseases, and thereby could have therapeutic potential.

Here, the authors review the fast-moving field of gene expression regulation by microRNAs. They describe how microRNAs influence many stages of innate and adaptive immune responses and how they might precipitate cancer and autoimmune disease if dysregulated.

This Review describes how microbial or self DNA that enters the cytoplasm can be detected by various mechanisms and triggers a range of cellular responses. These include the induction of antiviral innate immune responses and inflammasome-dependent caspase-1 activation and pyroptotic cell death.

The intestinal epithelium expresses several Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are crucial to its effective barrier function and repair following injury. But epithelial cell TLR signalling must be carefully controlled as its dysregulation has been linked to inflammation-associated colorectal cancers.

In this Opinion article, the authors suggest that more extensive use of laboratory measurements could help to expedite clinical trials of immunotherapy. They propose that surrogate end points could be used in place of clinical end points to determine drug safety, disease progression and therapeutic efficacy.