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TopImmunology
August 2011

Papers selected by: Peter Parham

Front cover: Figure 1 from V Hořejší; et al. (2010) FEBS J 277: 4383–4397; Figure 2 from K Duus et al (2010) FEBS J 277: 3526–3537, Figure 8 from S Mitra et al (2010) FEBS J 277: 128–147 and Figure 1 from E Teixeiro and M A Daniels (2010): 30–38

Introduction

Immunology is the study of the immune system, and the mechanisms by which it cultivates our vast internal populations of commensal organisms while eliminating the occasional invading pathogen. Microbes evolve quicker than mammals and with time can evade the immune response. Inevitably, the immune system is suboptimal and each human being is destined to suffer from infectious disease throughout their lifetime. On top of this, are the chronic diseases of autoimmunity and allergy, as well as infections that don’t go away, like those caused by HIV and HCV, which arise from either an over zealous or inadequate immune response. The papers in this virtual issue of the FEBS journal run the temporal gamut of the immune response, from the early secretion of anti-microbial peptides when infection is first detected, through to the formation of terminally differentiated plasma cells whose high affinity antibodies provide the ultimate weapon for shutting down infection for good. In preparing this virtual issue, I endeavoured to sort the papers into two sections corresponding to innate immunity (inflammation) and adaptive immunity (B cells and T cells), a division that has historically served to separate the earlier and later phases of the immune response. But in the end I gave up. Although innate immunity emerged long before adaptive immunity, the latter has still been around for some 500 million years. During that time innate and adaptive immunity have continuously co-evolved under pressure from pathogens and become considerably, if not inextricably, intertwined. That is certainly the picture at the cutting edge of immunological research, where as these papers show investigators find themselves investigating receptors, signaling molecules, and transcription factors that cross the traditional pedagogical boundaries. A further important trend, illustrated by several papers in this virtual issue, is the vital contribution made by cells and molecules of the immune system to reproductive systems of humans, mice and other placental mammals.

Multifunctional host defense peptides: AMPs, small yet big players in innate and adaptive immunity Constance Auvynet, Yvonne Rosenstein
FEBS Journal, Volume 276, Issue 22, November 2009, Pages: 6497–6508

Cytokine properties of prokineticins Justin Monnier, Michel Samson
FEBS Journal, Volume 275, Issue 16, August 2008, Pages: 4014–4021

CD91 interacts with mannan-binding lectin (MBL) through the MBL-associated serine proteases binding site Karen Duus, Nicole M. Thielens, Monique Lacroix, Pascale Tacnet, Philippe Frachet, Uffe Holmskov, Gunnar Houen
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 23, December 2010, Pages: 4956-4964

Direct interaction between CD91 and C1q Karen Duus, Erik W. Hansen, Pascale Tacnet, Philippe Frachet, Gerard J. Arlaud, Nicole M. Thielens, Gunnar Houen
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 17, September 2010, Pages: 3526–3537

Human lactoferrin activates NF-κB through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway while it interferes with the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated TLR4 signaling Ken Ando, Keiichi Hasegawa, Ken-ichi Shindo, Tomoyasu Furusawa, Tomofumi Fujino, Kiyomi Kikugawa, Hiroyasu Nakano, Osamu Takeuchi, Shizuo Akira, Taishin Akiyama, Jin Gohda, Jun-ichiro Inoue, Makio Hayakawa
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 9, May 2010, Pages: 2051–2066

Tyrosine nitration in the HLA-G-binding domain of the Ig-Like Transcript 2 (ILT2) protein Angel Díaz-Lagares, Estibaliz Alegre, Ainhoa Arroyo, Fernando J. Corrales, Álvaro González
FEBS Journal, Volume 276, Issue 15, August 2009, Pages: 4233–4243

Ligand binding and antigenic properties of a human neonatal Fc receptor with mutation of two unpaired cysteine residues Jan T. Andersen, Sune Justesen, Burkhard Fleckenstein, Terje E. Michaelsen, Gøril Berntzen, Vania E. Kenanova, Muluneh B. Daba, Vigdis Lauvrak, Søren Buus, Inger Sandlie
FEBS Journal, Volume 275, Issue 16, August 2008, Pages: 4097–4110

Increased flexibility and liposome-binding capacity of CD1e at endosomal pH Natalia Bushmarina, Sylvie Tourne, Gaëlle Giacometti, François Signorino-Gelo, Luis F. Garcia-Alles, Jean-Pierre Cazenave, Daniel Hanau, Henri de la Salle
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12,  June 2011, Pages: 2022–2033

Transcription factors Sp1 and C/EBP regulate NRAMP1 gene expression Etienne Richer, Carole G. Campion, Basel Dabbas, John H. White, Mathieu F. M. Cellier
FEBS Journal, Volume 275, Issue 20, October 2008, Pages: 5074–5089

Tec family kinases Liang Yu, C. I. Edvard Smith
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12, June 2011, Page: 1969

NF-κB regulates the transcription of protein tyrosine kinase Tec Liang Yu, Oscar E. Simonson, Abdalla J. Mohamed, C. I. Edvard Smith
FEBS Journal, Volume 276, Issue 22, November 2009, Pages: 6714–6724

Tec family kinases: Itk signaling and the development of NKT αβ and γδ T cells Qian Qi, Arun Kumar Kannan, Avery August
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12,  June 2011, Pages: 1970–1979

Tec family kinases Itk and Rlk/Txk in T lymphocytes: cross-regulation of cytokine production and T-cell fates Julio Gomez-Rodriguez, Zachary J. Kraus, Pamela L. Schwartzberg
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12,  June 2011, Pages: 1980–1989

Tec family kinases: regulation of FcεRI-mediated mast-cell activation Wilfried Ellmeier, Anastasia Abramova, Alexandra Schebesta
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12,  June 2011, Pages: 1990–2000

TEC family kinases in health and disease – loss-of-function of BTK and ITK and the gain-of-function fusions ITK–SYK and BTK–SYK Alamdar Hussain, Liang Yu, Rani Faryal, Dara K. Mohammad, Abdalla J. Mohamed, C. I. Edvard Smith
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 12,  June 2011, Pages: 2001–2010

Identification and characterization of the transcription factors involved in T-cell development, t-bet, stat6 and foxp3, within the zebrafish, Danio rerio Suman Mitra, Ayham Alnabulsi, Chris J. Secombes, Steve Bird
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 1, pages 128–147, January 2010

LAT – an important raft-associated transmembrane adaptor protein Václav Hořejší, Pavel Otáhal, Tomáš Brdička
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 21, November 2010 Pages: 4383–4397

ERK and cell death: ERK location and T cell selection Emma Teixeiro, Mark A. Daniels
FEBS Journal, Volume 277, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages: 30–38

GRAIL: A unique mediator of CD4 T lymphocyte unresponsiveness Chan C. Whiting, Leon L. Su, Jack T. Lin, C. Garrison Fathman
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages: 47–58

E2A participates in a fine control of pre-mature B cell apoptosis mediated by B cell receptor signaling via transcription regulations of survivin, IAP2 and caspase-8 genes Kenji Toyonaga, Hidehiko Kikuchi, Koki Yamashita, Masami Nakayama, Kazuo Chijiiwa, Tatsuo Nakayama
FEBS Journal, Volume 276, Issue 5, March 2009, Pages: 1418–1428

PRDM1/Blimp1 downregulates expression of germinal center genes LMO2 and HGAL Elena Cubedo, Michelle Maurin, Xiaoyu Jiang, Izidore S. Lossos, Kenneth L. Wright
FEBS Journal, Volume 278, Issue 17,  September 2011, Pages: 3065–3075

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