Articles in 2025

Here the authors show that persistent antigen stimulation drives the generation of CD8⁺ tissue-resident exhausted T cells with distinct developmental origins, function and therapeutic responsiveness when compared to CD8⁺ tissue-resident memory T cells.

Here the authors show that tissue-resident memory and exhausted T cells in tumors are distinct populations that are shaped by relative presence or absence of TCR signals, suggesting that a tailored therapeutic strategy is needed to target each subset.

Long COVID (LC) involves a spectrum of chronic symptoms after resolution of acute severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Barouch and colleagues show that LC is characterized by persistent activation of chronic inflammatory pathways and T cell exhaustion.

Ginhoux, Dutertre and colleagues provide a comprehensive analysis of dendritic cell subsets and states across human tumoral and juxtatumoral tissues.

The authors identify a Cys→Ser transformation (C19S) in insulin leading to neoepitope presentation and CD4⁺ T cell autoreactivity in type 1 diabetes. Inflammation and oxidative stress enhanced C19S transformation in β cells and antigen-presenting cells, resulting in C19S-specific CD4⁺ T cells with an activated memory phenotype linked to disease progression.

Klose and colleagues show that the neuropeptide vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) acts on LGR5⁺ epithelial stem cells in the gut to restrain their proliferation and differentiation to secretory cell types. This VIP–VIPR1 interaction acts to limit type 2 immune responses.

Veiga-Fernandes and colleagues show that neuroepithelial interactions differentially control type 1 and type 2 enteric immunity via VIP–VIPR1 signaling.

Nguyen et al. show that the splenic environment provides sequential signals via lymphotoxin and retinoic acid that guide cDC2A development and retention.

In ancestral SARS-CoV-2 infection, NK cell interferon-stimulated gene (ISG)-driven activation correlated with poor antibody breadth. In vitro, NK cell ISG expression boosts cytotoxicity toward T_FH-like cells, suggesting a mechanism for impaired antibody responses.

Rutz and colleagues report STK40, a non-catalytic member of the Tribbles pseudokinase family, negatively regulates c-Jun activity during proliferative T cell responses and exhaustion.

Dong and colleagues examine the 3D chromatin structure changes that accompany CD8⁺ T cell exhaustion. They identify a role for IRF8, which is required for recruitment of the chromatin topology organizer CTCF in terminally exhausted CD8⁺ T cells.

Merghoub, Wolchok and colleagues reveal a role of the extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) and CD47 in promoting T cell exhaustion during tumor progression in mice and humans.

Turley and colleagues find that Gremlin1-expressing lymph node fibroblastic reticular cells support dendritic cell homeostasis via provision of FLT3L.

Locksley and colleagues describe a nutrient-sensing circuit in the small intestine. Upon feeding, TSLP production from fibroblasts is increased in a GLP-2-dependent manner, resulting in increased ILC2 activation and tuft cell hyperplasia, thus linking food intake with ILC2 activation.

Huang and colleagues report that TIM4–AMPK signaling induces downregulation of the mitochondrial HSP90 chaperone TRAP1 in tumor-associated macrophages, thereby enhancing their immunoinhibitory function and promoting immune evasion and tumorigenesis.

Walmsley and colleagues report that systemic hypoxia induces persistent loss of histone H3K4me3 marks and epigenetic reprogramming in neutrophil progenitors, resulting in long-term impairment of subsequent neutrophil effector functions.

Kallies and colleagues examine the role of the chromatin regulator SATB1 in CD8⁺ T cell differentiation during viral infection and cancer. They show that SATB1 is a negative regulator of exhausted CD8⁺ T cell expansion and effector differentiation.

Coufal and colleagues generated microglia from human iPS cells to examine mechanistic roles of the transcription factor MEF2C and how these roles might relate to the autism phenotype seen following the loss of MEF2C in human microglia.

Joller and colleagues show that the co-inhibitory receptor TIGIT induces the expression of the tissue growth factor amphiregulin (Areg) in regulatory T cells and contributes to tissue repair in response to viral infection.

The authors report that an AS03-adjuvanted chimeric hemagglutinin-based influenza vaccine induces persistent stalk-specific serum antibody and bone marrow plasma cell responses in nonhuman primates, offering promise for broader and durable flu protection.