Immunology articles within Nature Medicine

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• Research Highlight | 24 May 2024

  Half a century of immunization success

  A modeling study marking 50 years of vaccination through the Expanded Programme on Immunization of the World Health Organization highlights its lifesaving impact on infant and child health.

  • Sonia Muliyil

• Article
  21 May 2024 | Open Access

  Multiomic analyses uncover immunological signatures in acute and chronic coronary syndromes

  Multiomic factor analysis of blood multiomic data, including single-cell transcriptomics, for individuals with either acute or chronic coronary syndrome identifies immune cell signatures that correlate with treatment outcomes.

  • Kami Pekayvaz
  • , Corinna Losert
  •  & Konstantin Stark

• Article
  13 May 2024 | Open Access

  Association between pretreatment emotional distress and immune checkpoint inhibitor response in non-small-cell lung cancer

  In a prospective observational study, symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were associated with worse response to first-line treatment with immunotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

  • Yue Zeng
  • , Chun-Hong Hu
  •  & Fang Wu

• Article
  13 May 2024 | Open Access

  High-resolution African HLA resource uncovers HLA-DRB1 expression effects underlying vaccine response

  Genome-wide analyses of vaccine antibody responses in 2,499 infants from Uganda, South Africa and Burkina Faso identify associations between specific HLA genes and response to eight vaccines, providing insights that could be considered for population-adjusted vaccine design strategies.

  • Alexander J. Mentzer
  • , Alexander T. Dilthey
  •  & Manjinder S. Sandhu

• Research Briefing | 09 May 2024

  Studying paired patient tissue and blood enables insights into immunotherapy toxicity

  Using single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing along with microscopy, we identified the cell types and genes associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy-related colitis. Our study will help to identify targets for early diagnosis and lays the groundwork for the development of safer immunotherapy regimens.

• Article | 09 May 2024

  Single-cell transcriptomic analyses reveal distinct immune cell contributions to epithelial barrier dysfunction in checkpoint inhibitor colitis

  Single-cell multi-omic analysis of 300,000 cells from 29 patients representing peripheral immune cells and colon mucosal immune, epithelial and mesenchymal cells reveals crosstalk between circulating and tissue-resident immune cells with epithelial cells in checkpoint inhibitor colitis and identifies potential therapeutic targets.

  • Molly Fisher Thomas
  • , Kamil Slowikowski
  •  & Alexandra-Chloé Villani

• Article | 30 April 2024

  Correlates of protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 in vaccinated children

  The dynamics and durability of immune responses associated with protection against symptomatic infection in children offer insights to guide vaccination policies in pediatric populations.

  • Youjia Zhong
  • , Alicia Y. H. Kang
  •  & Eng Eong Ooi

• Article | 26 April 2024

  Bispecific T cell engager therapy for refractory rheumatoid arthritis

  In a case series of six patients with multidrug-resistant rheumatoid arthritis, the CD19xCD3-targeting bispecific T cell engager blinatumomab reduced disease activity and led to reductions in autoantibodies.

  • Laura Bucci
  • , Melanie Hagen
  •  & Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer

• Article | 19 April 2024

  An autoantibody signature predictive for multiple sclerosis

  An antibody screen of two distinct multiple sclerosis cohorts reveals an autoantibody signature that is detectable years before symptom onset and linked to a common microbial motif.

  • Colin R. Zamecnik
  • , Gavin M. Sowa
  •  & Michael R. Wilson

• Article
  18 April 2024 | Open Access

  An Omicron-specific, self-amplifying mRNA booster vaccine for COVID-19: a phase 2/3 randomized trial

  A self-amplifying mRNA vaccine shows promise in this new modality by eliciting neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (BA.1) variant in a phase 2/3 trial.

  • Amit Saraf
  • , Rohan Gurjar
  •  & Vijaykumar Barge

• Article
  07 April 2024 | Open Access

  Personalized neoantigen vaccine and pembrolizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a phase 1/2 trial

  Treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with a personalized DNA vaccine in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy was safe and led to encouraging clinical efficacy, with immunological analyses confirming the induction of tumor antigen-specific T cell responses.

  • Mark Yarchoan
  • , Edward J. Gane
  •  & Niranjan Y. Sardesai

• Research Highlight | 28 March 2024

  Going the extra mile to increase vaccine uptake

  Deployment of mobile vaccination teams to remote communities in Sierra Leone substantially increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and could potentially be bundled with other health interventions.

  • Karen O’Leary

• Research Highlight | 26 March 2024

  Combination treatment for immune-mediated HIV remission

  In rhesus macaques, treatment with an IL-15 superagonist and broad neutralizing antibodies led to durable suppression of viremia after discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy.

  • Karen O’Leary

• Article | 13 March 2024

  Intrathecal bivalent CAR T cells targeting EGFR and IL13Rα2 in recurrent glioblastoma: phase 1 trial interim results

  In an interim analysis of an ongoing phase 1 trial of CAR T cells targeting EGFR and IL13Ra2 in patients with multifocal, recurrent glioblastoma, intrathecal delivery is feasible and well tolerated, with some reductions seen in tumor size.

  • Stephen J. Bagley
  • , Meghan Logun
  •  & Donald M. O’Rourke

• Article
  07 March 2024 | Open Access

  Locoregional delivery of IL-13Rα2-targeting CAR-T cells in recurrent high-grade glioma: a phase 1 trial

  In a large trial of patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas, IL-13Rα2-targeting CAR-T cells were feasible to manufacture and well tolerated when delivered via intratumoral and/or intraventricular routes.

  • Christine E. Brown
  • , Jonathan C. Hibbard
  •  & Behnam Badie

• Research Highlight | 19 February 2024

  Digital intervention improves tuberculosis treatment outcomes

  An intervention that incorporates electronic pill boxes and remote adherence monitoring improved treatment success in patients with tuberculosis in Tibet — making this a promising strategy for low-resource settings.

  • Karen O’Leary

• Article
  15 February 2024 | Open Access

  RANKL blockade for erosive hand osteoarthritis: a randomized placebo-controlled phase 2a trial

  Denosumab, a receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand inhibitor, previously developed for osteoporosis, was shown to be effective at inducing structural modification in patients with erosive hand osteoarthritis after 24 weeks.

  • Ruth Wittoek
  • , Gust Verbruggen
  •  & Dirk Elewaut

• Article | 14 February 2024

  Long-term and real-world safety and efficacy of retroviral gene therapy for adenosine deaminase deficiency

  Fifteen years’ follow-up of clinical development and real-world data from 43 patients show that gammaretroviral gene therapy for adenosine deaminase deficiency has a positive long-term efficacy profile, warranting continued safety monitoring of patients receiving gene therapy.

  • Maddalena Migliavacca
  • , Federica Barzaghi
  •  & Maria Pia Cicalese

• Brief Communication | 06 February 2024

  Severe disease during both primary and secondary dengue virus infections in pediatric populations

  In an analysis of severe dengue cases in a cohort of children in India, more than half could be attributed to primary rather than secondary infection, suggesting that primary dengue infections might also contribute substantially to severe disease burden.

  • Charu Aggarwal
  • , Hasan Ahmed
  •  & Kaja Murali-Krishna

• Article
  30 January 2024 | Open Access

  Differential peripheral immune signatures elicited by vegan versus ketogenic diets in humans

  In a post hoc multiomics analysis of a trial comparing a plant-based, low-fat diet to an animal-based, ketogenic diet, the diets have differential effects on peripheral immune cell frequencies and immune-related gene expression.

  • Verena M. Link
  • , Poorani Subramanian
  •  & Yasmine Belkaid

• Article
  18 January 2024 | Open Access

  Safety, efficacy and determinants of response of allogeneic CD19-specific CAR-NK cells in CD19⁺ B cell tumors: a phase 1/2 trial

  In the final report of a phase 1/2 trial evaluating allogeneic CD19-specific CAR-NK cells armored with IL-15 in patients with CD19⁺ hematologic malignancies, the therapy was shown to be safe and efficacious with distinct cord blood features associated with response.

  • David Marin
  • , Ye Li
  •  & Katayoun Rezvani

• Research Briefing | 15 January 2024

  Human CNS-associated macrophages decoded in time and space

  We profiled human central nervous system (CNS)-associated macrophages (CAMs) in anatomically dissected CNS interface tissue from typical, fetal and glioblastoma-affected brains using single-cell multi-omics and spatially resolved transcriptomic techniques. Analyses of CAM (and microglia) turnover rates in stem-cell-transplanted glioblastoma and prenatal tissues highlighted the developmental phenotypes of these cells in patients, which lays the groundwork for potential replacement therapies.

• Comment | 09 January 2024

  Unanswered questions following reports of secondary malignancies after CAR-T cell therapy

  Reports of T cell malignancies after CAR-T cell therapy should be investigated, but existing data from follow-up studies suggest a low risk compared with other cancer treatments.

  • Bruce L. Levine
  • , Marcelo C. Pasquini
  •  & Miguel-Angel Perales

• Article
  09 January 2024 | Open Access

  Lymph-node-targeted, mKRAS-specific amphiphile vaccine in pancreatic and colorectal cancer: the phase 1 AMPLIFY-201 trial

  In a phase 1 trial, a lymph node-targeting mutant KRAS peptide vaccine combined with CpG adjuvant is safe, reduces expression of tumor biomarkers and elicits mutant KRAS-specific T cells in patients with pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.

  • Shubham Pant
  • , Zev A. Wainberg
  •  & Eileen M. O’Reilly

• Article
  02 January 2024 | Open Access

  A candidate antibody drug for prevention of malaria

  Isolation and optimization of antibodies targeting the malaria parasite may offer the potential for immediate protection as a prophylactic intervention to prevent severe disease.

  • Katherine L. Williams
  • , Steve Guerrero
  •  & Daniel E. Emerling

• Article
  10 December 2023 | Open Access

  Mosunetuzumab with polatuzumab vedotin in relapsed or refractory aggressive large B cell lymphoma: a phase 1b/2 trial

  In an ongoing phase 1/2 trial, mosunetuzumab, a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody, plus polatuzumab vedotin, an anti-CD79B antibody–drug conjugate, had an overall response rate of 59.2%, supporting the potential of this combination for second-line treatment of patients with transplant-ineligible or CAR-T-cell-ineligible relapsed or refractory large B cell lymphoma.

  • Lihua E. Budde
  • , Adam J. Olszewski
  •  & Julio C. Chavez

• Research Highlight | 13 November 2023

  A new, affordable HPV vaccine

  A quadrivalent vaccine against human papillomavirus produced by the Serum Institute of India was shown to be noninferior to the established quadrivalent vaccine — boosting global efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.

  • Karen O’Leary

• Research Briefing | 13 November 2023

  Determining the longevity and dynamics of HIV-1 neutralizing activity

  The induction of neutralizing antibodies is the main goal of an HIV-1 vaccine, although data on the longevity of such antibodies is lacking. By tracking neutralizing antibodies in a large cohort of individuals infected with HIV-1 who had varying viral loads, we show that the HIV-1 neutralization response can last for several years even at low antigen levels.

• Article
  13 November 2023 | Open Access

  Dynamics and durability of HIV-1 neutralization are determined by viral replication

  Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-neutralizing responses can persist for several years, even at low antigen levels, suggesting that an HIV-1 vaccine may be able to elicit a durable antibody response.

  • Philipp Schommers
  • , Dae Sung Kim
  •  & Florian Klein

• Brief Communication
  23 October 2023 | Open Access

  Targeted depletion of TRBV9⁺ T cells as immunotherapy in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis

  Targeted depletion of TRBV9⁺ T cells induces remission in a single patient with ankylosing spondylitis, with significant improvements in functional and mobility metrics.

  • Olga V. Britanova
  • , Kseniia R. Lupyr
  •  & Dmitry M. Chudakov

• Article
  23 October 2023 | Open Access

  CLDN6-specific CAR-T cells plus amplifying RNA vaccine in relapsed or refractory solid tumors: the phase 1 BNT211-01 trial

  In the ongoing phase 1/2 BNT211-01 trial, CLDN6-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells given with or without CARVac, a CAR-T cell-amplifying RNA vaccine, were well-tolerated and exhibited encouraging clinical activity in patients with relapsed or refractory CLDN6-positive solid tumors, with the highest response rate in patients with germ cell tumors.

  • Andreas Mackensen
  • , John B.A.G. Haanen
  •  & Uğur Şahin

• Research Briefing | 11 October 2023

  Dietary and commensal yeasts drive aberrant T cell responses in Crohn’s disease

  Aberrant immune responses to the intestinal microbiome have emerged as major contributors to chronic intestinal inflammation, but the microbial species involved in inflammatory bowel diseases remain unknown. Our study identified dietary and commensal yeasts of the gut that drive the expansion of some cross-reactive CD4⁺ type 1 helper T cells with cytotoxic effector functions, which potentially contributes to immunopathology in patients with Crohn’s disease.

• News & Views | 04 October 2023

  Organ-sparing precision treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer

  The response to neoadjuvant treatment can be used to stratify individuals with muscle-invasive bladder cancer according to their risk of progression, enabling bladder-sparing approaches for some — and heralding a shift from the existing one-size-fits-all approach.

  • Roger Li

• Article
  02 October 2023 | Open Access

  AZD5582 plus SIV-specific antibodies reduce lymph node viral reservoirs in antiretroviral therapy-suppressed macaques

  Reactivation of latent SIV with an IAP antagonist, coupled with immunotherapeutic approaches, reduced replication-competent SIV in lymph node CD4⁺ T cells in rhesus macaques. Further exploration targeting these pathways to reduce the HIV viral reservoir is warranted.

  • Amir Dashti
  • , Sophia Sukkestad
  •  & Ann Chahroudi

• Article
  25 September 2023 | Open Access

  Selection of cross-reactive T cells by commensal and food-derived yeasts drives cytotoxic T_H1 cell responses in Crohn’s disease

  In patients with Crohn’s disease, CD4⁺ T cells with cytotoxic T_H1 cell-like effector functions reactive against dietary and commensal yeasts are increased in blood and inflamed tissue compared with patients with ulcerative colitis and healthy controls.

  • Gabriela Rios Martini
  • , Ekaterina Tikhonova
  •  & Petra Bacher

• Article
  21 September 2023 | Open Access

  A H3K27M-targeted vaccine in adults with diffuse midline glioma

  In this compassionate use study, treatment of adult patients with H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma with a long peptide vaccine targeting H3K27M led to vaccine-induced peripheral T cell immune responses and encouraging clinical efficacy in the majority of patients, including a durable complete response.

  • Niklas Grassl
  • , Isabel Poschke
  •  & Katharina Sahm

• Correspondence | 19 September 2023

  The CEPI centralized laboratory network for COVID-19 will help prepare for future outbreaks

  • Ali Azizi
  • , Mark Manak
  •  & Valentina Bernasconi

• Research Briefing | 08 September 2023

  Decoding antigen escape and multiple myeloma relapse after targeted immunotherapy

  By integrating genomic and in vitro functional analysis, this study uncovers tumor-intrinsic mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapies that target B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) or the orphan G-protein-coupled-receptor GPRC5D in multiple myeloma (MM), highlighting a pivotal role for mutations in the genes encoding BCMA and GPRC5D in driving clinical relapse. These insights provide crucial guidance for the selection of therapeutic strategies and the development of next-generation targeted immunotherapies in MM.

• Article
  31 August 2023 | Open Access

  Original SARS-CoV-2 monovalent and Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccines: phase 2/3 trial interim results

  An Omicron BA.4/BA.5 mRNA booster vaccine elicits high neutralizing responses to the BA.4/BA.5 variant and to ancestral SARS-CoV-2, supporting tailoring booster vaccines to the predominant Omicron variant.

  • Spyros Chalkias
  • , Jordan L. Whatley
  •  & Rituparna Das

• Article
  28 August 2023 | Open Access

  Comparison of bivalent and monovalent SARS-CoV-2 variant vaccines: the phase 2 randomized open-label COVAIL trial

  Analysis of antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines encoding variant-specific spike, with or without ancestral spike, suggests no loss of neutralization of the ancestral virus with variant-only vaccines, which may simplify future vaccine updates.

  • Angela R. Branche
  • , Nadine G. Rouphael
  •  & Elizabeth Brown

• Research Highlight | 17 August 2023

  Mosquito-inhabiting bacteria could help tackle malaria

  Researchers have identified a naturally occurring, non–genetically modified symbiotic bacterium that inhabits the gut of mosquitoes and prevents Plasmodium transmission.

  • Karen O’Leary

• Article
  10 August 2023 | Open Access

  First-line durvalumab and tremelimumab with chemotherapy in RAS-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer: a phase 1b/2 trial

  Treatment with anti-PDL1 and anti-CTLA4 in combination with mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy for patients with treatment-naive microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer is safe, shows encouraging progression-free survival and induces a tumor-specific immune response.

  • Marion Thibaudin
  • , Jean-David Fumet
  •  & François Ghiringhelli

• Research Briefing | 09 August 2023

  Porcine heart xenotransplantation in brain-dead decedents

  We transplanted gene-edited porcine hearts into two brain-dead human recipients, then evaluated their cardiac function and immune response over the following 66 hours. Both hearts showed sustained cardiac function over the course of the study, without evidence of hyperacute rejection or zoonotic transmission.

• Research Highlight | 03 August 2023

  Balancing the risks of HIV transmission at low viral load

  A systematic review uncovers almost no risk for sexual transmission of HIV at low levels of viral load.

  • Sonia Muliyil

• Article
  27 July 2023 | Open Access

  Mesothelin-targeting T cell receptor fusion construct cell therapy in refractory solid tumors: phase 1/2 trial interim results

  T cells containing an anti-mesothelin single-domain antibody fused to a component of the endogenous T cell receptor signaling complex exhibit notable toxicities but encouraging clinical responses in patients with treatment-refractory mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.

  • Raffit Hassan
  • , Marcus Butler
  •  & David Hong

• Article | 24 July 2023

  Pig-to-human heart xenotransplantation in two recently deceased human recipients

  In a short-term study in which hearts from gene-edited pigs were transplanted into two recently deceased human recipients, the hearts were able to function for the duration of the study without signs of rejection and without evidence of pig virus transmission, encouraging further clinical study of cardiac xenotransplantation.

  • Nader Moazami
  • , Jeffrey M. Stern
  •  & Robert A. Montgomery

• World View | 18 July 2023

  The poorest and most vulnerable communities should be the first to be vaccinated

  Eighteen million children have received no routine vaccines — prioritizing them will save lives and build health infrastructure.

  • Seth Berkley

• News Feature | 18 July 2023

  How to fight antibiotic resistance

  Researchers use artificial intelligence and bioinformatics to discover new antimicrobials, while governments pilot financial incentives for pharma.

  • Mike May

• Article
  06 July 2023 | Open Access

  SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses and clinical outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune-suppressive disease

  Serological analysis and infection outcomes of participants in the multi-center, prospectively enrolled OCTAVE cohort, comprising 2,686 participants with immune-suppressive diseases who recieved two COVID-19 vaccines, reveals specific clinical phenotypes that might benefit from specific COVID-19 therapeutic strategies.

  • Eleanor Barnes
  • , Carl S. Goodyear
  •  & Deborah Richardson

• Article
  06 July 2023 | Open Access

  Transcriptional signatures associated with persisting CD19 CAR-T cells in children with leukemia

  In children with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and in complete remission after CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, long-lived CAR-T cells express a persistence gene signature that is also present in persistent CD19 CAR-T cells from adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

  • Nathaniel D. Anderson
  • , Jack Birch
  •  & Sara Ghorashian