Frontiers in immunology

Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is recognized mainly as a secondary manifestation of a primary tuberculosis (TB) infection in the lungs contributing to a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. The TB bacilli upon reactivation maneuv…

The gut and genital tract microbiota of females represent very complex biological ecosystems that are in continuous communication with each other. The crosstalk between these two ecosystems impacts host physiological, immunological and meta…

Endometriosis is a debilitating gynecological disease characterized by the extrauterine presence of endometrial-like tissues located on the peritoneal membrane and organs of the pelvic cavity. Notably, dysfunctional immune activation in wom…

Sufficient uterine remodeling is essential for fetal survival and development. Pathologies related to poor remodeling have a negative impact on maternal and fetal health even years after birth. Research of the last decades yielded excellent…

Macrophages are key components of the innate immune system and exhibit extensive plasticity and heterogeneity. They play a significant role in the non-pregnant cycling uterus and throughout gestation they contribute to various processes und…

It is generally understood that the entry of semen into the female reproductive tract provokes molecular and cellular changes facilitating conception and pregnancy. We show a broader picture of the participation of prostaglandins in the fer…

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is characterized by disordered inflammation of the pancreas, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Purinergic signaling plays crucial roles in initiating and amplifying inflammatory signals. Recent evidence r…

Endometriosis is a hormonal disease, as well as a chronic inflammatory disease. While various immune cells are documented to be involved in endometriosis, there is a wanton lack of a bigger picture on how these cells are coordinated to work…

While the majority of influenza-infected individuals show no or mild symptomatology, pregnant women are at higher risk of complications and infection-associated mortality. Although enhanced lung pathology and dysregulated hormones are thoug…

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a specialized subset of T lymphocytes that function as suppressive immune cells and inhibit various elements of immune response in vitro and in vivo. While there are constraints on the number or function of Tr…

The soluble membrane attack complex (sMAC, a.k.a., sC5b-9 or TCC) is generated on activation of complement and contains the complement proteins C5b, C6, C7, C8, C9 together with the regulatory proteins clusterin and/or vitronectin. sMAC is …

In the last decade, the microbiota, i.e., combined populations of microorganisms living inside and on the surface of the human body, has increasingly attracted attention of researchers in the medical field. Indeed, since the completion of t…

Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 10 (USP10) protein is a deubiquitination enzyme involved in many important biological processes. However, the function of USP10 in hepatic ischaemic/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains unknown. The aim of this stud…

Recently, there have been encouraging findings suggesting that myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) may be a good target for studying immune suppression in ovarian cancer. MDSCs are an abundance of immature myeloid cells that have demon…

Infertility is currently a growing problem observed around the world and is estimated to affect between 8 and 12% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. Artificial reproductive techniques are the last chance for couples seeking their own c…

The gastro-intestinal tract is an extensive organ involved in several activities, with a crucial role in immunity. Billions of commensal and transient microorganisms, known as the gut microbiota, and potential pathogens, which are constantl…

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) serves as one of the first signals provided by the embryo to the mother. Exactly at the time when the first step of the implantation process is initiated and the blastocyst adheres to the maternal endometr…

Understanding what happens at the time of embryo implantation has been the subject of significant research. Investigators from many differing fields including maternal fetal medicine, microbiology, genetics, reproductive endocrinology and i…

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease with symptoms of dysmenorrhea, chronic pain, and infertility that affects 6-10% of women of reproductive age. Medical or surgical therapy, such as administration of an anti-gonadotropin or ovar…

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common and devastating inflammatory disorder of the pancreas. However, there are still no effective treatments available for the disease. Therefore, it is important to discover new therapeutic targets and strate…

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disorder, characterized by the presence of ectopic endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Among several hypotheses, Sampson's theory of retrograde menstruation is still applicable. Recent stu…

The female reproductive tract harbors distinct microbial communities, as in the vagina, cervical canal, uterus, and fallopian tubes. The nature of the vaginal microbiota is well-known; in contrast, the upper reproductive tract remains large…

Autoantibodies (AAbs) against various retinal proteins have been associated with vision loss in paraneoplastic and non-paraneoplastic autoimmune retinopathies (AR). There are two major paraneoplastic syndromes associated anti-retinal AAbs, …

Th17 cells are generally considered to be positive regulators of immune responses because they produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22. Cytokine production not only promotes accumulation of immune cells, such…

The cytosolic pattern recognition receptor (PRR) NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) senses a wide range of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Upon activa…