Engineered Immune Constructs Alter Antigen-Specific Immune Tolerance and Confer Durable Protection in Myelin-Driven Autoimmunity.

Autoimmune diseases are broadly characterized as a failure in immune tolerance. In multiple sclerosis (MS), autoreactive immune cells attack the protective myelin sheath lining neurons in the central nervous system. Therapeutic strategies that selectively and durably restore immune tolerance without broad immunosuppression are urgently needed for MS.

Financial markets value skillful forecasts of seasonal climate.

Scientific agencies spend substantial sums producing and improving forecasts of seasonal climate, but they do so without much information about these forecasts' value in practice. Here we show that financial market participants value the production of seasonal forecasts: options traders price the uncertainty generated by upcoming United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Winter and El Niño Outlooks. Each outlook affects firms throughout the economy, with total market capitalization of $6 and $13 trillion, respectively.

Engineering metabolism to modulate immunity.

Metabolic programming and reprogramming have emerged as pivotal mechanisms for altering immune cell function. Thus, immunometabolism has become an attractive target area for treatment of immune-mediated disorders. Nonetheless, many hurdles to delivering metabolic cues persist.

Self-Assembly of Immune Signals to Program Innate Immunity through Rational Adjuvant Design.

Recent clinical studies show activating multiple innate immune pathways drives robust responses in infection and cancer. Biomaterials offer useful features to deliver multiple cargos, but add translational complexity and intrinsic immune signatures that complicate rational design. Here a modular adjuvant platform is created using self-assembly to build nanostructured capsules comprised entirely of antigens and multiple classes of toll-like receptor agonists (TLRas).

Mapping the Mechanical and Immunological Profiles of Polymeric Microneedles to Enable Vaccine and Immunotherapy Applications.

Biomaterials hold great promise for vaccines and immunotherapy. One emerging biomaterials technology is microneedle (MNs) delivery. MNs are arrays of micrometer-sized needles that are painless and efficiently deliver cargo to the specialized immunological niche of the skin.