●Making peptides for presentation. The July issue of Nature Immunology has a special focus on the mechanisms of antigen processing and presentation, including the following articles: Generation of MHC class I antigens: a functional interplay between the proteasome system and TPPII. Kloetzel, P. M. Post-proteasomal antigen processing for MHC class I presentation. Rock, K. L. Cellular mechanisms governing cross presentation of exogenous antigens. Cresswell, P. and The exogenous pathway for antigen presentation on MHC class II and CD1 molecules. Watts, C.

●A new modality for immunosuppression: targeting the JAK/STAT pathway. O'Shea, J. J., Pesu, M., Borie, D. C. & Changelian, P. S. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery July (2004)

●Immune signalling in neural development, synaptic plasticity and disease. Boulanger, L. M. & Shatz, C. J. Nature Reviews Neuroscience July (2004) The recent demonstration that neurons normally express MHC class I molecules in vivo, despite the immunologically privileged status of the brain, supports the discovery that neuronal MHC class I is crucial for normal brain development and neuronal differentiation. Could immune proteins be involved in the origin and expression of neurological disorders?

●Theoretical immunology: Parasitic turncoat. Antia, R. & Koella, J. Nature 3 June (2004) This News & Views article discusses a new mathematical model of malaria infection, giving the surprising result that antigenic variation — the process by which a pathogen can evade an immune response by changing its surface antigens — might be most effective when variants have a high level of cross-reactivity. Short-term cross-reactive immune responses delay the appearance of other similar variants, so prolonging infection.

●Cancer and the chemokine network. Balkwill, F. Nature Reviews Cancer July (2004) A review of the role of chemokines and their receptors in the development of primary tumours and metastases. This information is providing insights into host–tumour interactions and indicates that manipulating the local chemokine network might have therapeutic benefits in malignant disease.

●Nature insight: Human genomics and medicine.Nature 27 May (2004) A collection of articles looking at how the completion of the human genome sequence last year, together with new experimental tools, will allow us to identify the genetic contribution to health and disease.

●Tolerance tag team. von Herrath, M. & Homann, D. Nature Medicine June (2004) As discussed in this News & Views piece, a recent paper in Nature Immunology showed that bystander suppression following oral administration of antigens is mediated by antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) that can pass on the regulatory TH2 function to other naive T cells. These 'conditioned' DCs could protect against autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.