Ageing erodes human immunity, in part by reshaping the T cell repertoire, leading to increased vulnerability to infection, malignancy and vaccine failure. Attempts to rejuvenate immune function have yielded only modest results and are limited by toxicity or lack of clinical feasibility.

Joseph Kreitz, Mirco J. Friedrich, Akash Guru, Blake Lash, Makoto Saito, Rhiannon K. Macrae & Feng Zhang

Endosymbiotic bacteria have evolved intricate delivery systems that enable these organisms to interface with host biology. One example, the extracellular contractile injection systems (eCISs), are syringe-like macromolecular complexes that inject protein payloads into eukaryotic cells by driving a spike through the cellular membrane.

Mirco J. Friedrich, Paola Neri, Niklas Kehl, Carsten Müller-Tidow, Marc-Steffen Raab, Nizar J. Bahlis

Bispecific T cell engagers (TCEs) have shownpromiseinthetreatmentofvarious cancers, but their mode of action in humans is elusive. Providing new insight into immunological mechanisms, Friedrich et al. identify how T cells in multiple myeloma patients respond to TCEsaccording to their cell state and link inter-individual differences in the immune repertoire to clinical response.