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Jakubzick and colleagues show that interstitial macrophages across various tissues display similar coordinated chemokine signatures in humans and mice.

Tissue-resident alveolar macrophages promote early tumor invasiveness and induction of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) are usually defined by particular functional or phenotypical characteristics. However, this has led to confusion in the field, as many of the criteria that are used to define a particular cell population may actually be shared with other cell types. In this Opinion article, the authors propose that a new nomenclature that is based on cell ontogeny could enable a more robust classification of MPS cells.

Differentiation into cytotoxic lymphocytes requires T-cell instruction by appropriately activated dendritic cells (DCs). Here the authors show that two DC lineages in the lung are selectively activated by either Toll-like receptor 3 or 7 to induce cytotoxic T-cell function.

By comparing gene-expression profiles, Randolph and colleagues distinguish different types of macrophages and pinpoint the differences between macrophages and dendritic cells.

Randolph and colleagues analyze the immune cells in the human and mouse peritoneum and show that the major populations of serous cavity-resident macrophages in humans and mice represent distinct differentiation stages of an overlapping differentiation program.

Monocytes not only serve as precursors for macrophages, but also contribute to tissue immunity by presenting antigen to T cells and producing immunomodulatory mediators. In this Review, the authors discuss some of these less well-appreciated immune functions of monocytes.

Nature Immunology’s 20^th anniversary is a good opportunity to reminisce about the ImmGen collective endeavor — its goals, successes and horror stories — and the group’s exploration of various modes of scientific publishing.

Lanier and colleagues systematically define the transcriptome of mouse natural killer cells in several contexts, including activation states and relative to all other lymphocyte and myeloid populations profiled by the Immunological Genome Project consortium.

The transcriptional regulation of commitment to the dendritic cell (DC) lineage and functional specialization of DCs in vivo is poorly understood. In this Resource, Merad and colleagues identify the lineage relationships among various tissue DC subsets.

Using the Immunological Genome compendium, Brenner and colleagues shed light on the transcriptional programs that operate during the course of iNKT cell development and in peripheral CD4⁺ and CD4^– iNKT cell subsets.

As part of the Immunogical Genome project, Kang and colleagues compare the gene-expression profiles of emergent thymocytes from adult mice that express the γδ T cell antigen receptor, segregated on the basis of the use of the γ- or δ-chain variable region, and find that the main subsets are molecularly distinct.

Antigenic activation induces the generation of effector and memory CD8⁺ T cells. Goldrath and colleagues profile gene expression at various times after infection to identify transcriptional networks unique to each population.

The Immunological Genome Project aims to build a comprehensive database of gene-expression and gene-regulatory networks in the mouse immune system. Here Turley and colleagues analyze the transcriptomes of lymph-node stromal cells under steady-state and inflammatory conditions.

The differentiation of αβ T cells is a complex process. Using data sets from the Immunological Genome Project, Benoist and colleagues identify candidate mediators of key transitions during thymocyte selection and maturation.

The transcriptional circuitry that controls the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells into cells of the immune system is only partially understood. Koller and colleagues use a computational algorithm to identify previously unknown differentiation stage–specific regulators of mouse hematopoiesis.