Featured
-
-
Research Highlights |
With stress comes inflammation
-
Research Highlights |
How gut flora can turn deadly
-
Letter |
Mitochondrial DNA that escapes from autophagy causes inflammation and heart failure
Mitochondrial DNA escaping from the autophagy pathway can trigger inflammation through Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9, leading to abnormalities in cardiac structure and function, and increased mortality.
- Takafumi Oka
- , Shungo Hikoso
- & Kinya Otsu
-
Research Highlights |
How fat spurs inflammation
-
Letter |
The Shigella flexneri effector OspI deamidates UBC13 to dampen the inflammatory response
Shigella flexneri translocates several virulence factors into host cells during infection; one of these proteins, OspI, is a glutamine deamidase that specifically modifies UBC13, a protein involved in immune signalling.
- Takahito Sanada
- , Minsoo Kim
- & Chihiro Sasakawa
-
Research Highlights |
Immunity's circadian link
-
Letter |
Extrathymically generated regulatory T cells control mucosal TH2 inflammation
Selective impairment of peripheral regulatory T-cell differentiation is found to result in spontaneous allergic TH2-type inflammation in the intestine and lungs, demonstrating the functional heterogeneity of regulatory T cells generated in the thymus and extrathymically in controlling immune mediated inflammation and disease.
- Steven Z. Josefowicz
- , Rachel E. Niec
- & Alexander Y. Rudensky
-
Article |
Inflammasome-mediated dysbiosis regulates progression of NAFLD and obesity
An expansion of Porphyromonadaceae in the gut is linked to the pathogenesis and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in the mouse.
- Jorge Henao-Mejia
- , Eran Elinav
- & Richard A. Flavell
-
Research Highlights |
Bacterial weapon: inflammation
-
Review Article |
Inflammasomes in health and disease
- Till Strowig
- , Jorge Henao-Mejia
- & Richard Flavell
-
News & Views |
A heavyweight knocked out
Caspase-1 is one of the main culprits behind sepsis, a form of systemic inflammation. The related enzyme caspase-11 is also involved, but the relative roles of the two proteins have been confusing, until now. See Letter p.117
- Douglas R. Green
-
Letter |
Non-canonical inflammasome activation targets caspase-11
- Nobuhiko Kayagaki
- , Søren Warming
- & Vishva M. Dixit
-
News & Views |
Defence against oxidative damage
Macular degeneration is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly in the developed world. Hope for prevention and treatment comes from the discovery of a protective mechanism against oxidative damage to the eye. See Letter p.76
- Fernando Cruz-Guilloty
- & Victor L. Perez
-
News & Views |
Recognition of a unique partner
The mammalian immune system can fight a myriad of pathogens. In part, this involves a superfamily of cytoplasmic receptors that dictate assembly of specific pro-inflammatory inflammasome complexes. See Letters p.592 & p.596
- Denise M. Monack
-
Letter |
Caspase-8 regulates TNF-α-induced epithelial necroptosis and terminal ileitis
- Claudia Günther
- , Eva Martini
- & Christoph Becker
-
Letter |
The NLRC4 inflammasome receptors for bacterial flagellin and type III secretion apparatus
- Yue Zhao
- , Jieling Yang
- & Feng Shao
-
Letter |
Innate immune recognition of bacterial ligands by NAIPs determines inflammasome specificity
- Eric M. Kofoed
- & Russell E. Vance
-
Letter |
TSLP promotes interleukin-3-independent basophil haematopoiesis and type 2 inflammation
- Mark C. Siracusa
- , Steven A. Saenz
- & David Artis
-
News & Views |
In command of commensals
Humans must maintain a balanced composition for the trillions of commensal microbes that inhabit their gut, but how they do this is largely unclear. It now emerges that one factor is a molecular pathway in gut epithelial cells.
- Menno van Lookeren Campagne
- & Vishva M. Dixit
-
Research Highlights |
Blocking brain inflammation
-
Letter |
Non-apoptotic role of BID in inflammation and innate immunity
- Garabet Yeretssian
- , Ricardo G. Correa
- & Maya Saleh
-
Research Highlights |
Saturated fats up inflammation
-
News |
Friendly bacteria fight the flu
Microbes trigger immune response that suppresses infections.
- Amy Maxmen
-
Letter |
Coronin 2A mediates actin-dependent de-repression of inflammatory response genes
Activation of inflammatory gene expression by toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling pathways involves the removal of gene repression complexes such as NCoR. Here, coronin 2A, a component of the NCoR complex, is shown to mediate TLR-induced NCoR turnover and de-repression of inflammatory genes by a mechanism involving interaction with oligomeric nuclear actin.
- Wendy Huang
- , Serena Ghisletti
- & Christopher K. Glass
-
Letter |
A role for mitochondria in NLRP3 inflammasome activation
Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species are shown to be required for activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by various stimuli.
- Rongbin Zhou
- , Amir S. Yazdi
- & Jürg Tschopp
-
Letter |
Suppression of inflammation by a synthetic histone mimic
Post-translationally modified histones are recognized by effector proteins which contain specific binding modules; for example, the bromodomain-containing BET proteins bind acetylated lysine residues during gene activation. Here a synthetic small molecule is described that interferes with the binding of certain BET family members to acetylated histones. The compound inhibits activation of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages and has activity in a mouse model of inflammatory disease.
- Edwige Nicodeme
- , Kate L. Jeffrey
- & Alexander Tarakhovsky
-
Research Highlights |
Immunology: Keeping the peace
-
Research Highlights |
Infectious disease: Battling bacterial blood infection
-
Letter |
Oxidative stress induces angiogenesis by activating TLR2 with novel endogenous ligands
Here it is shown that the end products of lipid oxidation — ω-(2-carboxyethyl) pyrrole and other related pyrroles — are generated during inflammation and wound healing, and accumulate at high levels in ageing tissues in mice and in highly vascularized tumours in murine and human melanomas. These carboxyalkylpyrroles are recognized by Toll-like receptor 2 on endothelial cells, setting off a chain of events that leads to the growth of new blood vessels.
- Xiaoxia Z. West
- , Nikolay L. Malinin
- & Tatiana V. Byzova
-
Article |
Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella
Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium causes acute gut inflammation, which promotes the growth of the pathogen through unknown mechanisms. It is now shown that the reactive oxygen species generated during inflammation react with host-derived sulphur compounds to produce tetrathionate, which the pathogen uses as a terminal electron acceptor to support its growth. The ability to use tetrathionate provides the pathogen with a competitive advantage over bacteria that lack this property.
- Sebastian E. Winter
- , Parameth Thiennimitr
- & Andreas J. Bäumler
-
Research Highlights |
Immunology: Vessels block inflammation
-
News & Views |
Inflammation for growth
How does a Salmonella pathogen outcompete beneficial intestinal microorganisms? It triggers an immune response that generates a compound from intestinal gas that it can utilize as an energy source. See Article p. 426
- Samuel I. Miller
-
Letter |
IκBβ acts to inhibit and activate gene expression during the inflammatory response
Nuclear hypophosphorylated IκBβ is shown to bind p65:c-Rel dimers and maintain prolonged expression of TNF-α in response to stimulation by lipopolysaccharide.
- Ping Rao
- , Mathew S. Hayden
- & Sankar Ghosh
-
Research Highlights |
Immunology: Inflammatory good guys
-
News & Views |
Host and microbes in a pickle
Metabolic disorders such as obesity are characterized by long-term, low-grade inflammation. Under certain conditions, the resident microorganisms of the gut might contribute to this inflammation, resulting in disease.
- Ping Li
- & Gökhan S. Hotamisligil
-
Letter |
NLRP3 inflammasomes are required for atherogenesis and activated by cholesterol crystals
During atherosclerosis, crystals of cholesterol accumulate in atherosclerotic plaques. But are they a consequence or a cause of the inflammation associated with the disease? Here it is shown that small cholesterol crystals appear early in the development of atherosclerosis, and that they act as an endogenous danger signal, causing inflammation by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. Cholesterol crystals thus seem to be an early cause, rather than a late consequence, of inflammation.
- Peter Duewell
- , Hajime Kono
- & Eicke Latz
-
News |
Blame it on the B cells
Immune cells seem to spark recurrent prostate cancer in mice.
- Brian Vastag
-
Letter |
Circulating mitochondrial DAMPs cause inflammatory responses to injury
Severe trauma can lead to death and sepsis in the absence of apparent infection. Here evidence shows that mitochondrial debris, released from damaged cells, is present in the circulation of seriously injured trauma patients. Such debris is shown to activate neutrophils via specific formyl peptide receptors, triggering systemic inflammation and end organ injury.
- Qin Zhang
- , Mustafa Raoof
- & Carl J. Hauser