Immunology

This EMBO | EMBL Symposium brings cancer researchers together to examine how tumours spread and resist treatment. Topics include circulating and metastasis-initiating cells, invasion, epigenetic regulation, dormancy, cellular plasticity, immune escape and the tumour microenvironment. The programme connects biological mechanisms with imaging, single-cell and spatial profiling, computational analysis and disease models. The event runs from 10 to 13 November 2026 at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre in Heidelberg, with virtual participation available. Abstract submissions are closed. On-site registration closes on 29 September; virtual registration remains available until 3 November. Registration fees and the two booking routes are listed on the organizer page.

Immune-mediated mechanisms are increasingly recognised as a cause of epilepsy even in the absence of an immune response against a specifical neuronal antigen. In some cases, these autoimmune processes are clearly pathogenic, for example acute seizures in autoimmune encephalitis, whereas in others this is less clear, for example autoimmune-associated epilepsy. Recent research has provided novel insights into the clinical, paraclinical and immunopathogenetic mechanisms in these conditions. I will provide an overview of clinical and paraclinical features of immune-associated seizures. Furthermore, I will describe specific immunopathogenic examples implicating lymphoid follicular autoimmunisation and intrathecal B cells in these conditions. These insights into immunopathogenesis may help to explain the role of current and immunotherapies in these conditions.

Excessive capillary flow heterogeneity results in a microcirculatory dysfunction and hinders optimal oxygen delivery into central nervous system (CNS). Irregularities in cellular flow, like dynamic stalls in capillaries is a potential origin of this heterogeneity. Because under systemic inflammatory conditions neutrophils can become activated and stiffen, they may potentially contribute to capillary stalling of higher frequency and duration. In this study, low dose intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered to transgenic mice with fluorescent capillary pericytes, to induce a low grade systematic inflammatory state, triggering neutrophil activation without hemodynamic instability. LPS resulted in increased submembrane actin density in neutrophils as early as 90 minutes, and this accumulation was prevented by in vivo application of an actin polymerization inhibitor, latrunculin. By repeated in vivo retinal imaging of microcirculation and fluorescently labeled leukocytes before and after LPS, we evaluated leukocyte kinetics, stall parameters and categorized the stall locations, with respect to their spatial association with pericyte somas and bifurcation points. Under baseline conditions, majority of neutrophil stalls occurred at bifurcations with significant association with pericyte somas. Low systemic inflammation resulted in an increased ratio of stalling leukocytes, in capillaries, complying with their submembrane actin condensation. Initial evaluation suggests that latrunculin can have a modulatory effect over neutrophil stiffness in vivo, improving stall parameters and microcirculation quality. Our data will disclose the detailed characteristics of leukocyte flow irregularities in CNS microcirculation under inflammatory conditions and will help understand whether targeting of neutrophil actin skeleton can be a therapeutic option for improving microcirculation dynamics.

Adrian Hill discusses the scientific challenges behind developing the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, its path from research to use, and efforts to make vaccination accessible in Africa. The conversation explores the complexity of the malaria parasite and the practical demands of vaccine production and delivery. The publisher credits Marushka Soobben and Chris Smith as presenters and provides the episode audio and interview transcript.

The Brain-Body Interaction RIKEN ECL Research Team, led by Tomoe Ishikawa and scheduled to be established on 1 December 2026, seeks one or two research scientists or postdoctoral researchers. Research will use mouse models, neurophysiology, biology and immunology to investigate how social behaviour and neural circuits affect responses to pathogen infection. The programme aims to understand brain–body and neuroimmune regulation of physiological functions and whether neural activity can modulate immune responses. The appointment is based at the Wako campus; employment is planned from 1 April 2027 or later, by agreement.

The Department of Genetics seeks an Assistant or Associate Professor researching pathogen genetics or host-pathogen interactions. Eligible scientific approaches span molecular and cellular mechanisms of infection, immunity and resistance, within-host and population dynamics, evolution and population genetics, using experimental, computational or theoretical genetic and genomic methods. The appointee will develop an independently funded research programme and contribute undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Research may address human, animal or plant pathogens and hosts. Laboratory and office space and access to containment, imaging, genomics and computing facilities are provided. The position starts on 1 October 2027 or later by agreement. Annual salary is £47,389–£59,966 at Assistant level or £63,606–£67,468 at Associate level. Applications close at midnight on 27 November 2026; interviews are planned for January 2027.

Open biological data resources connect complementary evidence about proteins involved in infection. Using influenza haemagglutinin, this seminar demonstrates sequence and functional annotations in UniProt, three-dimensional cryo-EM maps in EMDB, and experimental and predicted structures in PDBe and the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. Participants will learn to browse, retrieve and interpret these data and follow connections between the resources. The session also considers how accessible biological data supports infection research and pandemic preparedness. It is aimed at students and researchers in protein biology, structural biology and bioinformatics; basic knowledge of sequence and structure formats is useful.