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In this Q&A, Cell Press Community Review Scientific Editor Leia Judge talks to Dr. Clint Allen and Dr. Sandro Santagata about their new papers "Phenotypic plasticity and reduced tissue retention of exhausted tumor-infiltrating T cells following neoadjuvant immunotherapy in head and neck cancer" and "Lymphocyte networks are dynamic cellular communities in the immunoregulatory landscape of lung adenocarcinoma" and their experiences with publishing through Cell Press Community Review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrete tissue niches are emerging as essential prerequisites enabling cell communication and function in both homeostasis and disease. In a recent Cell paper, Di Pilato et al. identify a unique dendritic cell-cytotoxic T cell crosstalk within the perivascular space that facilitates T cell survival and proliferation and drives anti-tumor activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by infection with Plasmodium parasites. The goal of developing an effective malaria vaccine is yet to be reached despite decades of massive research efforts. CD4+ helper T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and γδ T cells are associated with immune responses to both liver-stage and blood-stage Plasmodium infection. The immune responses of T cell-lineages to Plasmodium infection are associated with both protection and immunopathology. Studies with mouse model of malaria contribute to our understanding of host immune response. In this paper, we focus primarily on mouse malaria model with blood-stage Plasmodium berghei infection and review our knowledge of T cell immune responses against Plasmodium infection. Moreover, we also discuss findings of experimental human studies. Uncovering the precise mechanisms of T cell-mediated immunity to Plasmodium infection can be accomplished through further investigations using mouse models of malaria with rodent Plasmodium parasites. Those findings would be invaluable to advance the efforts for development of an effective malaria vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Major immune effector cells like CD8+ T lymphocytes and natural killer cells are able to kill or inhibit Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and their cytotoxic ability can be enhanced or down-regulated by certain cytokines or drugs. • HCC cells can impair the function of major immune effector cells through a variety of mechanisms. • Organoids or direct contact cell co-culture especially with primary HCC cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes provide better understanding of cell–cell interactions between major immune effector cells and HCC cells. • Immunotherapy like checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell transfer showed notable effectiveness and safety in preventing HCC recurrence as adjuvant therapy. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver neoplasm with high morbidity and mortality. Tumor immunotherapy might be promising adjuvant therapy for HCC after surgery. To better develop HCC immunotherapy, comprehensive understanding of cell–cell interactions between immune effector cells and HCC cells remains crucial. To review the existing studies to summarize the cell–cell interactions between major immune effector cells and HCC cells providing new data for HCC immunotherapy. A systematic review was conducted by searching PubMed database covering all papers published in recent five years up to January 2020. The guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews were firmly followed. There are 9 studies researching the interactions between CD8+ T lymphocytes and HCC cells and 22 studies researching that between natural killer (NK) cells and HCC cells. Among the 9 studies, 6 studies reported that CD8+ T lymphocytes showed cytotoxicity towards HCC cells while 3 studies found CD8+ T lymphocytes were impaired by HCC cells. Among the 22 studies, 20 studies presented that NK cells could inhibit HCC cells. Two studies were found to report NK cell dysfunction in HCC. Based on the systematic analysis, we concluded that CD8+ T lymphocytes and NK cells can inhibit HCC cells. While in turn, HCC cells can also result in the dysfunction of those effector cells through various mechanisms. Organoids and direct contact cell co-culture with primary HCC cells and TILs should be the most innovative way to investigate the interactions and develop novel immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]