Lymphocyte Functional Crosstalk and Regulation

Lymphocyte effector responses constitute a key function of the vertebrate immunological defense in various pathophysiological conditions. Lymphocyte responses are tightly controlled by a range of intracellular and intercellular mechanisms. A vast body of research demonstrates that the full potential of lymphocyte effector function is acquired following interactions between the components of innate and adaptive immunity. For example, interactions between dendritic cells and NK cells, or T cells and NK cells, have been shown to play important roles in the clearance of various bacterial and viral infections. Furthermore, other studies have demonstrated the importance of functional crosstalk between T lymphocytes, dendritic cells and NK cells in anti-tumor immune responses. Taken together, these studies indicate that it is imperative to study immune compartments as one inter-dependent functional unit. A detailed systematic understanding of the interaction between innate lymphocytes, such as NK cells, and other recently characterized innate lymphoid cells, with adaptive lymphocytes such as T cells can lead to new approaches to improve immunotherapy in various diseases.

This Research Topic focused on innate-adaptive lymphocyte crosstalk will provide a comprehensive overview of these timely issues in lymphocyte biology with a particular emphasis on functional crosstalk and systems biology approaches to studying these interactions. We seek Original Research, Review, Mini-Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Clinical Trial, Case Report and Opinion articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

1. Importance of innate-adaptive lymphocyte crosstalk in cancer and infectious diseases.
2. Regulation of lymphocyte function by various non-canonical signal recognition and transduction pathways other than the canonical TCR signals.
3. Interaction between T lymphocytes and NK cells in anti-tumor immunity and other inflammatory pathophysiological conditions.
4. Interaction between dendritic cells and NK cells in the control of adaptive immunity to cancer, bacterial, and viral infections.
5. Interaction between dendritic cells and other antigen presenting cells with T cells in the control of innate immunity to cancer, bacterial, and viral infections.
6. Molecular mechanisms of innate-adaptive lymphocyte crosstalk in various physiological and pathological states.
7. Interaction of innate and adaptive lymphocytes in the maintenance of immune homeostasis and tolerance.
8. Therapeutic interventions to enhance innate-adaptive lymphocyte functional crosstalk.