Research Highlights

The pyroptotic secretome can be beneficial in promoting tissue repair.

Age-associated defects in dendritic cells can be corrected by hyperactivating adjuvants containing an oxidized phospholipid to induce effective antitumour responses in mice.

Two papers in Nature Immunology provide a comprehensive atlas of human natural killer cells in health and in different types of cancer.

Ahmed et al. report that IL-23-dependent CTLA4 expression by ILC3s restrains T cell-mediated inflammation in the intestine.

An adoptive cellular therapy based on γδ T cells, which were engineered to secrete a tumour-targeting opsonin as well as an IL-15 superagonist, controlled tumour growth in a mouse model of patient-derived osteosarcoma.

A study by Nakayama et al. shows that heart failure causes epigenetic changes in haematopoietic stem cells that predispose to further heart disease and comorbidity.

CAR T cell therapy alleviates type 2 airway inflammation in mouse models of asthma.

CD8⁺ T cells become exhausted when exposed to the mechanical forces of stiff solid tumours, owing to signalling through the transcription factor OSR2.

Two papers in Immunity report the effects of acetylcholine secretion by intestinal tuft cells on epithelial cells and helminths that contribute to the anti-helminth response.

Commensal bacteria induce liver macrophages that protect the tissue against inflammation.

Wei et al. report a role for membrane perforation mediated by gasdermin D pores in disruption of the blood–brain barrier.

Sex hormones in male mice negatively regulate type 2 innate lymphoid cells in the skin, impairing the induction and activation of dendritic cells and thereby contributing to differences in immunity in males and females.

Depletion of myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells can mitigate age-associated immune dysfunction.

A study in Science reports 10 individuals with pre-TCRα deficiency who have late-onset or no clinical phenotype, which suggests that αβ T cells can develop through a pre-TCRα-independent, non-canonical rescue pathway.

Plasma cells use P2RX4 to sense the regulated release of ATP from osteoblasts and this protects against ER stress-driven apoptosis.

Regulatory T cells have pathological roles in driving fibrosis and insulin resistance in the setting of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Investigation of neutrophil heterogeneity in tumours reveals the irreversible programming of long-lived, pro-angiogenic neutrophils that drive tumour progression.

Glycosylated RNAs on the surface of neutrophils bind P-selectin on endothelial cells to mediate recruitment to sites of inflammation.

A population of interferon-stimulated neutrophils can predict the success of immunotherapy outcomes in various cancers.