Lethal combats in the forest among wild western gorillas.

Lethal intergroup encounters occur in many species because of sexual selection. While documented in mountain gorillas, they are absent in western gorillas as, instead, it is predicted by their higher feeding (frugivory) and mate competition (single-vs. multi-male groups).

Development of Beta-Amyloid-Specific CAR-Tregs for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that remains uncured. Its pathogenesis is characterized by the formation of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques. The use of antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs) through adoptive transfer has shown promise for the treatment of many inflammatory diseases, although the effectiveness of polyspecific Tregs is limited.

Supraphysiological FOXP3 expression in human CAR-Tregs results in improved stability, efficacy, and safety of CAR-Treg products for clinical application.

The forkhead family transcription factor (FOXP3) is an essential regulator for the development of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and orchestrates both suppressive function and Treg lineage identity. Stable expression of FOXP3 enables Tregs to maintain immune homeostasis and prevent autoimmunity. However, under pro-inflammatory conditions, FOXP3 expression in Tregs can become unstable, leading to loss of suppressive function and conversion into pathogenic T effector cells.

Membrane-bound IL-2 improves the expansion, survival, and phenotype of CAR Tregs and confers resistance to calcineurin inhibitors.

Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in the maintenance of immune homeostasis and the establishment of immune tolerance. Since Tregs do not secrete endogenous IL-2, they are especially dependent on external IL-2. IL-2 deficiency leads to lower Treg numbers, instability of the Treg phenotype and loss of immune regulation.