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Social insects such as ants form a superorganism in which individual colony members cooperate for disease defence, much like the cells of an organism. Studying social insect colonies can help to determine common principles that unite the disease defences of organisms, superorganisms and societies.
A preprint by Martinez-Riano et al. evaluates the dynamics of antigen retention by follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in germinal centres, showing that immune complexes accumulate in the centre of the FDC network.
To realize the full potential of genetic engineering of haematopoietic stem cells for a broad range of clinical indications, substantial immunological challenges must be overcome. These include innate and adaptive immune responses to gene-therapy reagents and adaptive immune responses to neoantigens expressed by genetically engineered cells.
This Review explores the complex roles of immune cells in the onset and progression of multiple sclerosis, describing the influence of environmental and genetic factors on immune cell phenotype and function. The authors highlight that teasing out the precise roles of different immune cell subsets at different stages of the disease will be key to effective treatment strategies.
This ‘guide to’ article provides an overview of the antigen processing and presentation pathways, which lead to the loading of antigenic peptides on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules for detection by T cells.
Improving on current cancer immunotherapies will require engaging immune effectors beyond T cells alone. Predator–prey theory can reveal understudied and counterintuitive facets of antitumour immunity, inspiring new approaches to manipulate the tumour ecosystem in favour of cancer cell extinction.
