A collection of Review articles on the latest advances in immunometabolism.

A Focus issue of Nature Reviews Immunology highlighting the latest advances in cancer immunotherapy, including checkpoint blockade, cancer vaccines and modulation of the tumour microenvironment to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy.

In this Focus issue, five Review articles discuss how factors such as maternal nutrition, microbial colonization, infection and pregnancy-associated microchimerism shape the developing immune system, influencing its response to pathogens and vaccines, the risk of allergic and immune-mediated diseases, and future reproductive success.

This Focus issue features Review articles that describe our understanding of memory responses by CD8+ T cells, regulatory T cells, tissue-resident memory T cells and natural killer cells.

It is 50 years since Max Cooper and Robert Good published their landmark study that led to the birth of the B cell field. Immunologists now appreciate that B cells are not only important for the generation of antibodies, but regulate immune responses through a diverse range of mechanisms. To celebrate the golden anniversary of the B cell, Nature Reviews Immunology has invited some of the world's leading experts on B cell biology to discuss their highlights from past and present research in the field.

The homeostatic immune responses that operate in steady-state conditions are required to maintain the stability of diverse physiological systems and processes, ranging from host–commensal relationships in the gut to the fibrotic cascade involved in wound healing. Furthermore, regulatory T cells and phagocytic cells are required to maintain homeostasis of all tissues. Failure of these homeostatic mechanisms can precipitate disease in the absence of infection.

The recent identification of several subsets of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and the evolving understanding of the function of other innate-like lymphocytes, including γδ T cells, NKT cells and marginal zone B cells, suggest that there are No. clear boundaries between innate and adaptive immunity. This focus features articles describing these recent advances and discussing their implications for the future of immunological research.

Transplantation has therapeutic applications not only for patients experiencing organ failure, but also in other clinical settings, such as cancer and autoimmunity. The specially commissioned Review articles in this Focus issue describe the recent developments that have been made in the field of transplant immunology. Importantly, the authors discuss the promise of new immunotherapies that prevent transplant rejection and graft-versus-host disease without inducing broad immunosuppression.

This joint Focus issue from Nature Reviews CancerandNature Reviews Immunologyfeatures specially commissioned articles that discuss the promise of immunotherapy to treat cancer and how key immune cells function in the tumour microenvironment.

The January 2012 special issue presents two important strategies for generating potent and lasting anti-tumor immunity. The first strategy is to subvert immune suppressive networks in the tumor microenvironment. The second strategy is to optimize conventional and anti-biological modalities to directly target tumor and adjacent tumor tissue, and mobilize and expand anti-tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment which results in tumor eradication. Further background information on this important topic is available through the accompanying web focus which links to related articles from across Springer Nature.

Macrophages, first described at the end of the 19th century by Élie Metchnikoff, have a central role in maintaining tissue homeostasis but also provide signals for the activation of adaptive immune cells. The specially commissioned review articles in this Focus discuss our current understanding of the homeostatic and pathogenic functions — as well as the development, recruitment and transcriptional regulation — of monocytes and macrophages.

In recent decades enormous effort has been made to elucidate the pathogenesis of autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. Autoimmunity is a multifactorial process in which genetic, immunological, environmental and hormonal factors act in concert, representing what was termed some years ago the “mosaic of autoimmunity”. The May 2011 Special Issue on Cutting Edge Issues in Immunology and Autoimmunity summarizes our current understanding of this complex mosaic. The accompanying selection of recent articles from across the Springer Nature provide further insight into this topic.