Differential recognition of HIV-stimulated IL-1β and IL-18 secretion through NLR and NAIP signalling in monocyte-derived macrophages.

Macrophages are important drivers of pathogenesis and progression to AIDS in HIV infection. The virus in the later phases of the infection is often predominantly macrophage-tropic and this tropism contributes to a chronic inflammatory and immune activation state that is observed in HIV patients. Pattern recognition receptors of the innate immune system are the key molecules that recognise HIV and mount the inflammatory responses in macrophages.

Conference scene: New research directions in innate immunity.

The 2013 3R's event, chaired by Kathy Triantafilou and Martha Triantafilou (Institute of Infection & Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, UK), brought together immunologists across Europe investigating multiple species and pathology. The conference heard nine speakers describe their research, and received ten highly structured in-depth posters from postgraduate students. Three promising research directions are described, demonstrating the importance of continued support for innate immunity research in common diseases affecting humans and ruminants, universally understood to have profound economic impacts on patients, health services and the agricultural industry.

Novel drugs and treatment strategies for HIV-1.

XIX International Conference of the International AIDS Society. Washington DC, USA, 22-27 July 2012. Exploring new approaches in the development of HIV-1 therapeutics is an important component in a multifaceted approach to combating global HIV-1/AIDS-related mortality.

New drugs for HIV-1: challenges and novel candidates.

The XVIII International Conference of the International AIDS Society held in Vienna on the 18-23 July 2010 brought together scientists, clinicians, policymakers, people living with HIV/AIDS and journalists from across the globe. Keynote speakers relevant to the theme of this report included Sharon Lewin (Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia) and Tae-Wook Chun (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, MA, USA), among others. A total of 19,100 delegates from across 193 countries attended the conference, which comprised 248 sessions, accompanied by 6238 abstracts and posters.

Pathogen sensing in innate immunity.

TLRs (Toll-like receptors), NLRs (Nod-like proteins) and RLRs (RIG-like receptors), pathogens sensors of innate immunity conference organized by EuroSciCon hosted a large group of scientists from across Europe. The Chairs hoped the meeting would "provide an overview of these three families of receptors and provide the most recent advances in the area of innate immune pattern recognition", with a view to informing future directions in this field. Eleven talks and six posters were presented; the Chairs gave a detailed introduction, followed by a detailed summation at the end.