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Excessive lung inflammation in response to infection or allergens can lead to tissue damage and potentially loss of organ function. The CD200-CD200R interaction acts to limit such destructive immune responses in the lung.
Natural killer T cells acquire their unique phenotype and characteristics during development in the thymus. Evidence suggests that the transcription factor PLZF has a unique function in the development of these cells and their acquisition of 'innate-like' characteristics.
New findings show that cellular microRNAs 'calibrate' the baseline expression of mRNAs encoding stress-inducible ligands of the activating NKG2D receptor. This regulation serves to protect innocent cells but may be exploited by tumors and viruses to thwart immune attack.
Autophagy has been suggested—on the basis of in vitro studies—to be involved in defense against bacterial challenge. A study in drosophila now shows the importance of autophagy in vivo and links a pattern recognition receptor to the autophagy pathway.
The production of inflammatory interleukin 1β after uptake of silica crystals and alum salt or amyloid-β occurs by a process that involves lysosomal destabilization and release of cathepsin B that activates the NLRP3 inflammasome.
New findings show that ERAAP, an endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase involved in antigen processing, helps mice survive encounters with a feline-derived parasite.
Host immunity requires cytotoxic lymphocytes that are able to move toward their targets but are also able to stop after identifying target cells and then establish stable cell-cell contact. A new study shows that separate phosphorylation sites in HS1, an actin cytoskeleton–remodeling factor, can regulate both processes.
A key regulator of the balance of signals that activate effector mechanisms versus those that restrain them, β-arrestin 2 mediates the inhibition of natural killer cell cytotoxicity.
The AIDS pandemic is caused by human immunodeficiency virus, which was discovered at the Institut Pasteur in 1983. In May 2008, scientists met in Paris to discuss the progress and setbacks of 25 years of research in this field and to debate future directions.
Transcription factors of the Ets family are important for mammalian development. A genetic screen now finds that the Ets family member Erg is essential for definitive hematopoiesis and adult hematopoietic stem cell function.
Neutrophils can respond to many chemotactic signals, but how these cells 'prioritize' such signals to react to invading pathogens has remained unclear. The phosphatase PTEN seems to be critical in directing the migration of neutrophils toward their end target in a complex milieu of competing signals.
