Dynamics in protein translation sustaining T cell preparedness.

In response to pathogenic threats, naive T cells rapidly transition from a quiescent to an activated state, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Using a pulsed SILAC approach, we investigated the dynamics of mRNA translation kinetics and protein turnover in human naive and activated T cells. Our datasets uncovered that transcription factors maintaining T cell quiescence had constitutively high turnover, which facilitated their depletion following activation.

Immune-centric network of cytokines and cells in disease context identified by computational mining of PubMed.

Cytokines are signaling molecules secreted and sensed by immune and other cell types, enabling dynamic intercellular communication. Although a vast amount of data on these interactions exists, this information is not compiled, integrated or easily searchable. Here we report immuneXpresso, a text-mining engine that structures and standardizes knowledge of immune intercellular communication.

Social network architecture of human immune cells unveiled by quantitative proteomics.

The immune system is unique in its dynamic interplay between numerous cell types. However, a system-wide view of how immune cells communicate to protect against disease has not yet been established. We applied high-resolution mass-spectrometry-based proteomics to characterize 28 primary human hematopoietic cell populations in steady and activated states at a depth of >10,000 proteins in total.

L-Arginine Modulates T Cell Metabolism and Enhances Survival and Anti-tumor Activity.

Metabolic activity is intimately linked to T cell fate and function. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we generated dynamic metabolome and proteome profiles of human primary naive T cells following activation. We discovered critical changes in the arginine metabolism that led to a drop in intracellular L-arginine concentration.

Functional classification of memory CD8(+) T cells by CX3CR1 expression.

Localization of memory CD8(+) T cells to lymphoid or peripheral tissues is believed to correlate with proliferative capacity or effector function. Here we demonstrate that the fractalkine-receptor/CX3CR1 distinguishes memory CD8(+) T cells with cytotoxic effector function from those with proliferative capacity, independent of tissue-homing properties. CX3CR1-based transcriptome and proteome-profiling defines a core signature of memory CD8(+) T cells with effector function.