Marleen Y. van Smoorenburg, Julia L. Nerwinska, John L. van Hamme, Ester B. M. Remmerswaal, Celia Segui-Perez, Karin Strijbis, Teunis B. H. Geijtenbeek
{"title":"Bacterial Vaginosis-Associated Prevotella timonensis Enhances Dendritic Cell–T Cell Clustering and Subsequent T Cell Proliferation","authors":"Marleen Y. van Smoorenburg, Julia L. Nerwinska, John L. van Hamme, Ester B. M. Remmerswaal, Celia Segui-Perez, Karin Strijbis, Teunis B. H. Geijtenbeek","doi":"10.1002/eji.70051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70051","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dysbiosis of the vaginal microbiome is associated with increased inflammation in the female genital tract. Microbiota associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), such as <i>Gardnerella vaginalis</i>, <i>Megasphaera elsdenii</i>, and <i>Prevotella timonensis</i>, replace the health-associated bacterium <i>Lactobacillus crispatus</i> and cause inflammation affecting mucosal integrity and immunity. However, it remains unclear how these BV-associated bacteria modulate immune cells and enhance inflammation. Here, we investigated whether BV-associated bacteria directly affected dendritic cell (DC) function. Notably, <i>P. timonensis</i> but not <i>M. elsdenii</i> induced cell–cell clustering between monocytic cell lines and, importantly, between primary DCs and primary CD4 T cells. Our data indicate that this increased clustering is independent of LFA-1. Moreover, <i>P. timonensis</i> enhanced DC-mediated CD4 T cell proliferation. Altogether, these results suggest that <i>P. timonensis</i>-induced cell–cell clustering contributes to the elevated mucosal inflammation observed during bacterial vaginosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70051","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laurens Bogers, Jasper Rip, Suzanne C. Franken, Kirsten L. Kuiper, Ana M. Marques, Annet F. Wierenga-Wolf, Marie-José Melief, Cato E. A. Corsten, Romy A. M. Klein Kranenbarg, Janet de Beukelaar, Ide Smets, Beatrijs H. Wokke, Maarten J. Titulaer, Joost Smolders, Marvin M. van Luijn
{"title":"Perturbances in Both Circulating B and CD4+ T Cells Discriminate Multiple Sclerosis from Other Central Nervous System Autoimmune Diseases","authors":"Laurens Bogers, Jasper Rip, Suzanne C. Franken, Kirsten L. Kuiper, Ana M. Marques, Annet F. Wierenga-Wolf, Marie-José Melief, Cato E. A. Corsten, Romy A. M. Klein Kranenbarg, Janet de Beukelaar, Ide Smets, Beatrijs H. Wokke, Maarten J. Titulaer, Joost Smolders, Marvin M. van Luijn","doi":"10.1002/eji.70049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70049","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using spectral flow cytometry, we analyzed circulating lymphocyte subsets in treatment-naive individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other central nervous system autoimmune diseases (CNS AIDs). Elevated B-cell and CD4<sup>+</sup> T-cell frequencies were a disease-specific feature of MS, while reduced T-bet<sup>+</sup> and CXCR3<sup>+</sup> B-cell levels were associated with progressive disease.\u0000\u0000 <figure>\u0000 <div><picture>\u0000 <source></source></picture><p></p>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </figure></p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70049","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cellular Cosmetics: How Innate Lymphoid Cells Can Recontour the Tumour Microenvironment","authors":"Nabina Pun, David R. Withers","doi":"10.1002/eji.70041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70041","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The innate lymphoid cell (ILC) family includes natural killer (NK) cells, recognised for over 50 years, as well as several more recently identified populations. Over the past 15 years, ILCs have emerged as key orchestrators of tissue homeostasis and inflammation. To build upon the early promise of cancer immunotherapies, it is essential to better understand the pathways regulating the composition of, and immunosuppressive mechanisms that dominate many solid cancers and effectively curtail or block T cell responses. Given their residence within most tissues, how these cellular sentinels influence tumour development and progression remains an active area of both discovery and more translationally focused research. By defining precisely how different immunosuppressive pathways form, rationalised immunotherapy combinations can be devised to specifically target these. Current evidence indicates that for each ILC subset, both pro- and anti-tumourigenic roles are possible, likely reflecting local cues within different tissues and contexts. Here, we seek to concisely review some of the prevailing data describing ILC contributions to tumour immunity and highlight some of the challenges that still exist in fully dissecting these mechanisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70041","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trine S. Jensen, Marlene F. Laursen, Lea Schort, Agnieszka J. Banasik, Ralf Agger, Martin R. Jakobsen, Emil Kofod-Olsen
{"title":"STING and Nonnecroptotic MLKL-Mediated Mechanisms Improve Dendritic Cell Maturation and Killing of Cancer Cells","authors":"Trine S. Jensen, Marlene F. Laursen, Lea Schort, Agnieszka J. Banasik, Ralf Agger, Martin R. Jakobsen, Emil Kofod-Olsen","doi":"10.1002/eji.70044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70044","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Activation of the cGAS-STING pathway plays an important role in antitumor immunity through maturation of tumor-infiltrating DCs. DCs engulf extracellular DNA released by dying cancer cells, supporting activation of the cGAS-STING pathway and concomitant DC maturation. Extracellular DNA in the tumor microenvironment is primarily derived from cells undergoing uncontrolled necrosis or programmed inflammatory death, such as necroptosis, which can be induced when apoptosis pathways are inhibited. Here, we report that caspase inhibition primes activation of a RIPK1/3, MLKL, and STING signaling axis in DCs, resulting in maturation without the need for any further maturation stimuli such as LPS or TNF-α. Notably, these signaling events do not induce DC death, indicating a nonnecroptotic role of the RIPK1-RIPK3-MLKL pathway and novel crosstalk with the STING pathway. Caspase inhibition in DC/cancer cell co-cultures results in DC maturation, inducing TNF-α secretion, which delivers the co-signal to induce cancer cell necroptosis. In summary, we find a collaborative mechanism of the STING and necroptosis pathway in DC maturation, and that activation of the necroptosis pathway has opposite effects on cancer cells and DCs, proposing a possibility for new targets in cancer immunotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70044","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aline Linder, Farah Diab, Loïc de Pontual, Irina Giurgea, Klaus Eyer
{"title":"Baseline Single-Cell Differences in Polyfunctionality Between Systemic Autoinflammatory Diseases Patients and Healthy Controls","authors":"Aline Linder, Farah Diab, Loïc de Pontual, Irina Giurgea, Klaus Eyer","doi":"10.1002/eji.70047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70047","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dysregulated cytokine secretion and signaling underlie systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs). Here, we characterized immune dysregulation in SAID patients by profiling cytokine secretion at the single-cell level, establishing measurements for secretion dynamics and cellular polyfunctionality, compared with healthy controls, revealing natural variability within immune responses between donors.\u0000\u0000 <figure>\u0000 <div><picture>\u0000 <source></source></picture><p></p>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </figure></p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70047","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joy Nakawesi, Tammie Sow Tao Min, Cecilia Johansson
{"title":"Natural Killer Cells Are Dispensable for Virus Control in Rag2−/− Mice During Primary RSV Infection","authors":"Joy Nakawesi, Tammie Sow Tao Min, Cecilia Johansson","doi":"10.1002/eji.70045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70045","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the major causes of severe lower respiratory tract infections, especially in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Complications arising from viral infections in these age groups can present therapeutic challenges, as most of these individuals have impaired adaptive immunity. Using the T- and B cell-deficient <i>Rag2<sup>−/−</sup></i> mice, the mechanisms that mediate protection in immunocompromised hosts during RSV infection can be investigated. RSV-infected <i>Rag2<sup>−/−</sup></i> mice showed no symptoms of disease or chronic inflammation in the lungs and airways despite the presence of infectious virus in their lungs several months after infection. Interestingly, Natural Killer (NK) cells, the main innate cells with anti-viral cytotoxic effector functions, were recruited 2 days earlier in the lungs of <i>Rag2<sup>−/−</sup></i> mice compared with wildtype mice, resulting in early production of IFN-γ. However, depletion of NK cells did not affect disease severity or viral load. Together, these results suggest that the NK cells are largely dispensable for virus control during primary RSV infection in <i>Rag2<sup>−/−</sup></i> mice.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70045","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sophie Y. Guan, Patricia P. Ogger, Ana Farias, Minerva Garcia Martín, Joy Nakawesi, Olivia Bedard, Candice Baker, Nadia Rosenthal, Cecilia Johansson
{"title":"Sustained Lung Inflammation Post-SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Mice Is Associated with Increased Pulmonary T Cells","authors":"Sophie Y. Guan, Patricia P. Ogger, Ana Farias, Minerva Garcia Martín, Joy Nakawesi, Olivia Bedard, Candice Baker, Nadia Rosenthal, Cecilia Johansson","doi":"10.1002/eji.70043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70043","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Many SARS-CoV-2 patients experience chronic pulmonary symptoms and long-term inflammation despite viral clearance. While these clinical manifestations have been linked to the dysregulation of the adaptive immune response, the underlying immunopathology remains poorly understood due to a lack of suitable animal models. To investigate long-term pulmonary consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we used a genetic cross of 129 mice and C57BL/6 (B6)-K18-<i>hACE2</i> transgene mice, a model previously shown to survive infection. 129xB6-K18-<i>hACE2</i> mice or littermate controls were infected with a low dose (5 × 10<sup>2</sup> PFU) of ancestral SARS-CoV-2. Complete viral clearance and full recovery from weight loss occurred by day 8 post-infection. However, prolonged inflammation in the lung and airways persisted up to day 28 post-infection and was associated with the presence of CD4<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells, particularly CD8<sup>+</sup> effector T cells. This model may therefore prove valuable for further understanding of drivers of long-term lung inflammation and for testing therapeutic strategies and clinically relevant interventions that can target long-term pulmonary inflammation following SARS-CoV-2 infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.70043","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144894139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SOCS Proteins: Key Players in Immune Regulation During SARS-CoV-2 Infection","authors":"Juber Herrera-Uribe, Nigel J. Stevenson","doi":"10.1002/eji.202451645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.202451645","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins are crucial components of the immune response against viral infections. SOCS proteins inhibit cytokine signaling through various mechanisms, such as blocking STAT binding to JAKs and targeting proteins for ubiquitination and degradation. While these proteins maintain immune balance by suppressing excessive inflammatory responses, many viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, exploit SOCS proteins to evade host immunity. In consequence, understanding their modulatory functions in viral disease has become increasingly relevant. Therefore, this review aims to describe and discuss studies involving SOCS expression data in COVID-19 and their potential modulation as a valuable use for therapeutic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":165,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Immunology","volume":"55 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eji.202451645","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}