Opinion in 2011

In this short Perspective article, Glenn Dranoff summarizes the strengths and limitations of three of the most commonly used mouse tumour model systems for investigating host antitumour immune responses and the potential clinical efficacy of novel immunotherapies.

This article discusses the evidence in support of the simultaneous activation of angiogenesis and immunosuppression in a homeostatic tissue repair programme and proposes that these normal biological processes are co-opted by tumours to enhance tumour growth.

In this Opinion article, Caroline Jefferies and colleagues discuss the evidence in support of a role for TRIM proteins in autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease through their ability to regulate the inflammasome and pro-inflammatory cytokine and interferon production.

Erica Herzog and colleagues put forward the opinion that fibrocytes, a little-studied population of monocyte-derived cells that have properties of both macrophages and fibroblasts, have unique roles in chronic inflammation that warrant further study.

Despite the frequently proposed 'redundancy' of the chemokine system, these authors put forward the opinion that targeting a single chemokine receptor can be effective in treating inflammatory disease provided that thein vivopotency is sufficient.

This article describes the molecular mechanisms involved in T cell senescence and T cell exhaustion, and proposes that these states are controlled by distinct molecular pathways. Blocking exhaustion rather than senescence may be a safer way to enhance immunity to persistent infections and in ageing.

In this Opinion article, David Finlay and Doreen Cantrell explore the molecular pathways that may link CD8⁺ T cell metabolism with effector versus memory CD8⁺T cell differentiation through the control of T cell migration.