Molecular Medicine Select

Immune responses are subject to many layers of regulation such that their effect is precisely calibrated. New approaches to selectively alter the intensity and type of immune response for therapeutic benefit are the topic of this issue’s Molecular Medicine Select. This includes the recent discovery of a modifier gene that shapes the activity of lung neutrophils to affect the severity of cystic fibrosis. Other exciting discoveries link variants in a gene involved in antiviral immunity to the etiology of type 1 diabetes and examine the role of Toll-like receptors in shaping effector and regulatory T cell responses. Researchers also report that autophagy enhances vaccine efficacy and have identified a compound that prevents mucosal transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus in rhesus macaques.