How cumulative environmental allergen exposures are encoded by peripheral sensory neurons to shape immune responsiveness is unclear. Zhu et al. show that protease allergens induce an mTORC1-dependent,...

Nature Reviews Immunology, Published online: 24 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41577-026-01351-wThe discoveries that have transformed immunology often seem obvious in retrospect. Yet none began as an inevitable destination. They began with observations that did not fit, assumptions that somebody challenged, or questions that nobody yet realized were important. Discovery was the outcome. Surprise was the process.

Thousands of genetic variants are associated with autoimmune diseases, but causal variants, their mechanisms, and the pathogenic context in which they act are elusive. Knowledge of pathogenic contexts...

The study integrates cross-species single-cell and genomic analyses with functional validations to map the endosteal bone compartment, revealing musculoskeletal-disease-relevant cell types and transcr...

Click to read Max Krummel, a Substack publication.

2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), launched by WHO. Despite its crucial role in preventing infectious d…

Macrophages can sample antigens from living cells through a trogocytosis-like mechanism that routes ingested material away from degradation, a finding that delineates a previously unknown pathway...

Tissue-resident CSF1R-dependent CD169+ macrophages localize deep in the skin. They surround growing tumors and directly suppress their growth independent o

Birds use a variety of navigational strategies, including the geomagnetic field, especially when other cues are not available, such as under overcast or nocturnal conditions. Magnetite particles in th...

Yazar et al. characterized sex-based immune differences at single-cell resolution using sex-differential expression (differentially expressed genes [DEGs]) and sex-stratified expression quantitative l...

The mechanisms linking defective protein prenylation to systemic inflammation in mevalonate kinase deficiency remain unclear. Munoz et al. reveal that mice and humans with MKD have defective NK cells,...

Understanding how cells make decisions over time requires the ability to link past molecular states to future phenotypic outcomes. We present TimeVault, a genetically encoded system that records and s...

See nature in a whole new light in this stunning, photographic exhibition, featuring works by some of the world's best nature photographers.

With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.

Twenty-five years ago, two Cell papers reported the key missing functional piece in three molecular puzzles. The genetic swapping of immunoglobulin constant regions, the mutational fine-tuning of anti...

A new strategy that uses prime editing to convert an endogenous tRNA into a suppressor tRNA shows therapeutic potential for multiple genetic diseases that are caused by premature stop codons.

Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological d...

Abstract. Identifying functionally important cell states and structure within heterogeneous tumors remains a significant biological and computational challenge. Current clustering or trajectory-based ...

The advances achieved against multiple sclerosis (MS) represent one of the great success stories of modern molecular medicine. The development of therapies with increasing selectivity and safety, gui....

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Vaccines generate long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells (Bmems) that may re-enter secondary germinal centers (GCs) to further mutate their B cell…

A new study seems to confirm that a single dose of the vaccine used to prevent HPV infection is just as effective as two — and, therefore, also helps to prevent cancer.

Johanna Joyce describes how disrupting tumor-associated macrophages showed the importance of the tumor microenvironment in treating cancer.

The cell surface proteome, or surfaceome, is the hub for cells to interact and communicate with the outside world. Many disease-associated changes are hard-wired within the surfaceome, yet approved drugs target less than 50 cell surface proteins. In the past decade, the proteomics community has made significant strides in developing new technologies tailored for studying the surfaceome in all its complexity. In this review, we first dive into the unique characteristics and functions of the surfaceome, emphasizing the necessity for specialized labeling, enrichment, and proteomic approaches. An overview of surfaceomics methods is provided, detailing techniques to measure changes in protein expression and how this leads to novel target discovery. Next, we highlight advances in proximity labeling proteomics (PLP), showcasing how various enzymatic and photoaffinity proximity labeling techniques can map protein–protein interactions and membrane protein complexes on the cell surface. We then review the role of extracellular post-translational modifications, focusing on cell surface glycosylation, proteolytic remodeling, and the secretome. Finally, we discuss methods for identifying tumor-specific peptide MHC complexes and how they have shaped therapeutic development. This emerging field of neo-protein epitopes is constantly evolving, where targets are identified at the proteome level and encompass defined disease-associated PTMs, complexes, and dysregulated cellular and tissue locations. Given the functional importance of the surfaceome for biology and therapy, we view surfaceomics as a critical piece of this quest for neo-epitope target discovery.

The measles virus attacks long-lived immune cells, reducing antibody-mediated protection from other infectious diseases and casting a long shadow of childhood mortality.