Calling cells to arms

IFN- Arms Human Dendritic Cells to Perform Multiple Effector Functions

A Farewell to Arms

At a certain moment in life everyone has to make important decisions with direct implications for their future. This time has now arrived and I would like to announce that, as of 1 January 2017, I will be stepping down as Editorin-Chief of the Netherlands Heart Journal (NHJ). Formally, the appointment of an Editor-in-Chief is a matter for both the Publisher and the Netherlands Society of Cardio...

A call to arms.

The Netherlands and other northern European countries have been enduring leaders in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) control across hospital and community environments. When I spoke to a Dutch colleague about their secret, I heard that some twenty-five years ago, when MRSA was starting to be seen in Europe, the microbiologists from across the country got together and in a reso...

Latent herpesvirus infection arms NK cells.

Natural killer (NK) cells were identified by their ability to kill target cells without previous sensitization. However, without an antecedent "arming" event, NK cells can recognize, but are not equipped to kill, target cells. How NK cells become armed in vivo in healthy hosts is unclear. Because latent herpesviruses are highly prevalent and alter multiple aspects of host immunity, we hypothesi...

Limb development: Farewell to arms

Forelimbs and hindlimbs are, clearly, quite different, and it has long been appreciated that their differences are assigned early in development; the genetic basis of these differences has been more mysterious, however. Recent work has now shown that the homeobox gene Pitx1 imparts identity to the developing hindlimb bud.