Macrophages have diverse functions in immunity as well as development and homeostasis. Here we identify a function for these cells in long distance communication during postembryonic tissue remodeling. Ablation of macrophages in zebrafish prevented melanophores from coalescing into adult pigment stripes. Melanophore organization depends on signals provided by cells of the yellow xanthophore lineage via airinemes, long filamentous projections with vesicles at their tips.

Plant MADS-box genes have duplicated extensively, allegedly contributing to the immense diversity of floral form in angiosperms. In Arabidopsis thaliana (a core eudicot model plant), four SEPALLATA (SEP) genes comprise the E-class from the extended ABCE model of flower development. They are redundantly involved in the development of the four types of floral organs (sepals, petals, stamens and carpels) and in floral meristem determinacy. E-class genes have been examined in other core eudicots and monocots, but have been less investigated in non-core eudicots.

For many years, a main focus of plant evolutionary developmental biology was studying the expression and phylogenetic history of genes implicated in developmental pathways. This approach has been enormously successful in identifying potentially conserved gene regulatory circuits that underlie major pattern formation processes in plants. Importantly, hypotheses were often generated on how changes in these gene regulatory-circuits led to the evolution of different plant forms.

Impairment of immune defenses can contribute to severe influenza infections. Rapamycin is an immunosuppressive drug often used to prevent transplant rejection and is currently undergoing clinical trials for treating cancers and autoimmune diseases. We investigated whether rapamycin has deleterious effects during lethal influenza viral infections. We treated mice with two concentrations of rapamycin and infected them with A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (A/PR8), followed by a heterosubtypic A/Hong Kong/1/68 (A/HK68) challenge.

Avian H7N9 influenza virus infection with fatal outcomes continues to pose a pandemic threat and highly immunogenic vaccines are urgently needed. In this report we show that baculovirus-derived recombinant H7 hemagglutinin protein, when delivered with RIG-I ligand, induced enhanced antibody and T cell responses and conferred protection against lethal challenge with a homologous H7N9 virus. These findings indicate the potential utility of RIG-I ligands as vaccine adjuvants to increase the immunogenicity of recombinant H7 hemagglutinin.

Since the first case of human infection in March 2013, continued reports of H7N9 cases highlight a potential pandemic threat. Highly immunogenic vaccines to this virus are urgently needed to protect vulnerable populations who lack protective immunity. In this study, an egg- and adjuvant-independent adenoviral vector-based, hemagglutinin H7 subtype influenza vaccine (HAd-H7HA) demonstrated enhanced cell-mediated immunity as well as serum antibody responses in a mouse model.

The role of pre-existing immunity for influenza vaccine responses is of great importance for public health, and thus has been studied in various contexts, yet the impact of differential priming on vaccine responses in the midst of antigenic drift remains to be elucidated. To address this with antigenically related viruses, mice were first primed by either infection or immunization with A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) virus, then immunized with whole-inactivated A/Fort Monmouth/1/47 (FM1) virus.