Editorial
Special Issue: Gene Expression in the Immune System
Immunology: A 360 Tour John W. Pham1 and Fabiola Rivas2 1 2
Editor, Molecular Cell Editor, Trends in Immunology
Microbes surround us. They are literally all over us. Not surprisingly, we and other organisms have evolved intricate mechanisms to manage these interactions and to protect us from harm. In two coordinated Special Issues, Molecular Cell and Trends in Immunology explore these mechanisms and their impact on biology. The Molecular Cell issue focuses on immunity and includes articles that describe how diverse organisms defend against pathogens. These articles explore plant and animal defenses, as well as those of bacteria, which must contend with their own array of invaders. The articles examine how cells detect foreign molecules, how the immune response is activated upon detection, and how cells eliminate pathogens. Of course, microbes don’t go down without a fight, and several articles explore the diabolical ways in which microbes subvert host immune responses. The issue, like Molecular Cell, has a mechanistic bent. But, also like the journal, there’s more to it than cool mechanisms. Some articles explore fascinating connections in biology, such as the link between immune responses, metabolism, and diseases like atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes, as well as emerging connections between gut microbes, diet, and colon cancer. The articles in this issue cover many exciting areas of current research, and they reflect the journal’s growing interest in the broad topic areas of immunity and host-microbe interactions— particularly where these topics reveal important mechanistic or biological insights—and where they intersect with subjects of long-standing interest to the journal and its readers, including nucleic acid biology, protein quality control, signaling, metabolism, and cell death. The Trends in Immunology issue, in turn, looks both inward and to the horizon. The goal was to simultaneously celebrate the advances that research in the immune system have brought to our understanding of gene expression—and the exciting and transformative contributions of advances in other fields to cutting-edge research in immunology. The issue largely focuses on transcriptional regulation, exploring how the distinct genetic programs that characterize immune cells are established and maintained.
Articles explore how transcription factors interact with the existing chromatin landscape and with other transcription factors, which both convey important information about context and environment. The impact of genomic and nuclear architecture is taken into account, in recognition of the fact that transcription factors important for celllineage determination processes often play structural roles. Looking beyond, articles discuss how to embrace complexity and meaningfully harness the ability to analyze—often in a high-throughput manner—genomic and transcriptional signatures of many immune cell populations and point to the potential of a systems-level perspective. The discussion moves from a singular genome to consider diversity within immune cell populations, from both the perspective of the processes that generate cellular heterogeneity and their overall impact in the immune response. In this population-level context, it highlights the new single-cell approaches that will revolutionize analyses of gene expression in immune cells. The Trends in Immunology issue reflects the aim of the journal, which is to highlight the directions that the field is taking and the perspectives that are leading the way. This sometimes involves looking a bit outside of immunology, to incorporate the exciting biology happening in other disciplines. The present discussion, largely focused on transcriptional regulation, is far from comprehensive, as it only touches on posttranscriptional mechanisms. There is much more to explore! We would like to thank the distinguished experts who contributed their time and effort as authors and reviewers to make these two Special Issues timely and thought provoking. We hope you learn something new and find inspiration in the issues that, in combination, take a tour of immunology at many levels: molecular and organismal, in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and in plants and animals. We hope that they encourage you to explore the literature broadly and to forge new connections and test new technologies. The toughest challenges are often best met with fresh ideas that grow from collaboration. This was the spirit of our joint effort. Enjoy!
1471-4906/ ß 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2014.04.001
Trends in Immunology, May 2014, Vol. 35, No. 5
187
Special Issue: Gene Expression in the Immune System
Immunology: A 360 Tour John W. Pham1 and Fabiola Rivas2 1 2
Editor, Molecular Cell Editor, Trends in Immunology
Microbes surround us. They are literally all over us. Not surprisingly, we and other organisms have evolved intricate mechanisms to manage these interactions and to protect us from harm. In two coordinated Special Issues, Molecular Cell and Trends in Immunology explore these mechanisms and their impact on biology. The Molecular Cell issue focuses on immunity and includes articles that describe how diverse organisms defend against pathogens. These articles explore plant and animal defenses, as well as those of bacteria, which must contend with their own array of invaders. The articles examine how cells detect foreign molecules, how the immune response is activated upon detection, and how cells eliminate pathogens. Of course, microbes don’t go down without a fight, and several articles explore the diabolical ways in which microbes subvert host immune responses. The issue, like Molecular Cell, has a mechanistic bent. But, also like the journal, there’s more to it than cool mechanisms. Some articles explore fascinating connections in biology, such as the link between immune responses, metabolism, and diseases like atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes, as well as emerging connections between gut microbes, diet, and colon cancer. The articles in this issue cover many exciting areas of current research, and they reflect the journal’s growing interest in the broad topic areas of immunity and host-microbe interactions— particularly where these topics reveal important mechanistic or biological insights—and where they intersect with subjects of long-standing interest to the journal and its readers, including nucleic acid biology, protein quality control, signaling, metabolism, and cell death. The Trends in Immunology issue, in turn, looks both inward and to the horizon. The goal was to simultaneously celebrate the advances that research in the immune system have brought to our understanding of gene expression—and the exciting and transformative contributions of advances in other fields to cutting-edge research in immunology. The issue largely focuses on transcriptional regulation, exploring how the distinct genetic programs that characterize immune cells are established and maintained.
Articles explore how transcription factors interact with the existing chromatin landscape and with other transcription factors, which both convey important information about context and environment. The impact of genomic and nuclear architecture is taken into account, in recognition of the fact that transcription factors important for celllineage determination processes often play structural roles. Looking beyond, articles discuss how to embrace complexity and meaningfully harness the ability to analyze—often in a high-throughput manner—genomic and transcriptional signatures of many immune cell populations and point to the potential of a systems-level perspective. The discussion moves from a singular genome to consider diversity within immune cell populations, from both the perspective of the processes that generate cellular heterogeneity and their overall impact in the immune response. In this population-level context, it highlights the new single-cell approaches that will revolutionize analyses of gene expression in immune cells. The Trends in Immunology issue reflects the aim of the journal, which is to highlight the directions that the field is taking and the perspectives that are leading the way. This sometimes involves looking a bit outside of immunology, to incorporate the exciting biology happening in other disciplines. The present discussion, largely focused on transcriptional regulation, is far from comprehensive, as it only touches on posttranscriptional mechanisms. There is much more to explore! We would like to thank the distinguished experts who contributed their time and effort as authors and reviewers to make these two Special Issues timely and thought provoking. We hope you learn something new and find inspiration in the issues that, in combination, take a tour of immunology at many levels: molecular and organismal, in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and in plants and animals. We hope that they encourage you to explore the literature broadly and to forge new connections and test new technologies. The toughest challenges are often best met with fresh ideas that grow from collaboration. This was the spirit of our joint effort. Enjoy!
1471-4906/ ß 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2014.04.001
Trends in Immunology, May 2014, Vol. 35, No. 5
187
