Review Articles in 2017

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can engage multiple pattern-recognition receptors to trigger pro-inflammatory and type I interferon responses. This Review provides an overview of how these responses are activated by summarizing the unique features of mtDNA and how it is exposed during cellular stress.

In this Review, the authors propose that disease-associated genetic variants modulate signalling downstream of B cell receptors, Toll-like receptors and cytokine receptors in B cells to drive autoimmune responses. This altered signalling favours a naive B cell repertoire that is skewed towards self-reactivity and promotes the peripheral activation of autoreactive B cell clones.

Receptor editing and apoptosis have crucial roles in promoting the central tolerance of B cells to self-antigens. Defects of these processes can result in autoimmunity or immunodeficiency disease in humans and mice.

This Review describes the distinct mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) cells that are found in the different compartments of the eye. The authors discuss the importance of MPS cells for maintaining tissue homeostasis and explain how these cells contribute to eye pathology following a loss of immune privilege.

The generation of a diverse T cell repertoire depends on heterogeneous populations of thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Here, the authors explain how different subsets of TECs support and coordinate different stages of T cell development to ensure the selection of a functional and self-tolerant T cell repertoire.

This Review describes the different populations of monocytes and macrophages, including Kupffer cells, that are found in the liver. The authors discuss the immune functions of these cells in the homeostatic liver as well as during liver infection and disease.

Neutrophils are rapidly recruited to tissues in response to injury or infection, and they have mainly been studied in the context of acute inflammation. However, neutrophils can also be important contributors to chronic tissue inflammation. This Review discusses neutrophil function in the context of chronic inflammation and considers the potential of targeting these cells in chronic diseases.

This Review provides an overview of the cross-presentation of antigens derived from dead cells and describes how immunological signals from dying cells influence T cell cross-priming. The authors propose a novel classification of the immunogenic signals that arise from dying cells and discuss how different forms of cell death may influence the outcome of cross-presentation.

An increasing number of multifactorial diseases have been linked to intestinal dysbiosis — that is, changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiome. Here, the authors explore the causes and consequences of dysbiosis, and discuss implications for the aetiology and treatment of many common immune-mediated diseases.

In this Review, the authors discuss the effects of glucocorticoids on both innate and adaptive immunity. They explain the mechanistic basis of glucocorticoid-mediated immunosuppression and highlight the less well-appreciated roles of glucocorticoids in enhancing immune responses.

Following muscle injury, changes in the stages of muscle growth coincide with changes in the phenotype and activation status of leukocytes that enter the site of muscle damage. As described in this Review, complex and coordinated crosstalk between immune cells and muscle cells determines the success or failure of muscle regeneration.

This Review describes how different modes of cell death protect against bacterial and viral infections, and the complex signalling crosstalk between the different pathways during an infection.

This Review focuses on the protective and pathological roles of different T cell subsets in the central nervous system (CNS). The authors explain how effector, memory and regulatory T cell populations are primed and recruited to the CNS, and discuss the plasticity of these populations, particularly in the context of viral infection and autoimmunity.

Severe haemorrhagic fever is a feature of infection with both Ebola and Lassa viruses, but differences in the immune responses induced by infection in each case may have important implications for the development of specific therapies and vaccines.

Disease tolerance is a defence strategy that functions by improving tissue repair or by reducing the detrimental effect of inflammatory signals to prevent the harmful effects of pathogens. This Review describes the mechanisms underlying disease tolerance to infections and how these can be targeted therapeutically.