Bacterial Virulence Proteins as Tools to Rewire Kinase Pathways in Yeast and Immune Cells Researchers exploited two effector proteins, the Shigella flexneri OspF protein3 and Yersinia pestis YopH protein4, to rewire kinase-mediated responses systematically both in yeast and mammalian immune cells. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release TRIF Licenses Caspase-11-Dependent NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation by Gram-Negative Bacteria Though it is well recognized that the immune response during Gram-negative bacterial infection is initiated after the recognition of endotoxin by Toll-like receptor 4, the molecular mechanisms underlying the detrimental inflammatory response during Gram-negative bacteremia remain poorly defined. The authors identified a TRIF pathway that licenses NLRP3 inflammasome activation by all Gram-negative bacteria. [Cell] Abstract Compartmentalized Control of Skin Immunity by Resident Commensals Researchers report an autonomous role for the skin microbiota in controlling the local inflammatory milieu and tuning resident T lymphocyte function. They found that protective immunity to a cutaneous pathogen was critically dependent on the skin but not gut microbiota. [Science] Abstract | Press Release Adenylate Cyclases of Trypanosoma brucei Inhibit the Innate Immune Response of the Host Researchers found that activation of trypanosome adenylate cyclase resulting from parasite phagocytosis by liver myeloid cells inhibited the synthesis of the trypanosome-controlling cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α through activation of protein kinase A in these cells. [Science] Abstract Recognition of CD1d-Sulfatide Mediated by a Type II Natural Killer T Cell Antigen Receptor Scientists report a basis for how a type II natural killer T cell (NKT cell) T cell antigen receptor (TCR), XV19, recognized CD1d-sulfatide. The XV19 TCR bound orthogonally above the A′ pocket of CD1d, in contrast to the parallel docking of type I NKT cell TCRs over the F′ pocket of CD1d. [Nat Immunol] Abstract Type II Natural Killer T Cells Use Features of Both Innate-Like and Conventional T Cells to Recognize Sulfatide Self Antigens Researchers describe the structure of a type II natural killer T cell T cell antigen receptor in complex with CD1d-lysosulfatide. [Nat Immunol] Abstract Silencing of Irf7 Pathways in Breast Cancer Cells Promotes Bone Metastasis through Immune Escape Researchers found that, in mice deficient in the interferon (IFN) receptor or in natural killer and CD8+ T cell responses, metastasis was accelerated, indicating that Irf7-driven suppression of metastasis was reliant on IFN signaling to host immune cells. [Nat Med] Abstract | Press Release Cytomegalovirus Impairs Antiviral CD8+ T Cell Immunity by Recruiting Inflammatory Monocytes The authors report that the murine cytomegalovirus-encoded CC chemokine, MCK2, enhanced CCR2-dependent recruitment of these cells to modulate antiviral immunity, impairing virus-specific CD8+ T cell expansion and differentiation into effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes, thus reducing the capacity to eliminate viral antigen-bearing cells and slowing viral clearance. [Immunity] Abstract The RIG-I-Like Receptor LGP2 Controls CD8+ T Cell Survival and Fitness Researchers showed that the RIG-I-like receptor LGP2 was not essential for induction of innate immune defenses, but rather was required for controlling antigen-specific CD8+ T cell survival and fitness during peripheral T cell-number expansion in response to virus infection. [Immunity] Abstract Airway CD8+ T Cells Induced by Pulmonary DNA Immunization Mediate Protective Anti-Viral Immunity The authors showed that pulmonary immunization using plasmid DNA formulated with the polymer polyethyleneimine induced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in the airways that persisted long after antigen local clearance. [Mucosal Immunol] Abstract |