<i>Clinical and Experimental Immunology</i>: Highlights of 2023

As we move forward into the new year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the journey of Clinical & Experimental Immunology throughout the year 2023. It was another year marked by many excellent scholarly outputs and the collective pursuit of knowledge. In 2023, Clinical and Experimental Immunology collaborated again with the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2023 Annual Meeting, which was held in Boston, USA from 20–23 June. A selection of primary research and review articles that complemented the scientific programme of FOCIS 2023 were compiled into a virtual issue [1]. These papers represent recent advances in fields as diverse as cancer immunology, autoimmunity, transplantation immunology, immune engineering, neuroimmunology, immune ageing, and allergy. Some of our favourite primary research articles in 2023 were highlighted in our monthly Editors’ choice feature. “Clinical features, diagnosis, and management of pembrolizumab-induced myasthenia gravis” by Zhao et al. [2] reviewed existing literature for the clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of pembrolizumab-induced myasthenia gravis. The authors suggest that clinicians should consider the possibility of pembrolizumab-induced MG, especially during the first 8 weeks of therapy. Another highly viewed study by Nagata et al. [3] investigated the effect of treatment with lysophosphatidic acid on microglial activation, impaired neurogenesis, and abnormal behaviour in MRL/lpr mice. The results may offer novel insights for the treatment of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE), which is an incurable disease characterized by neuropsychiatric symptoms. Pezhman et al. [4] investigated the impact of the immunopeptide (PEPITEM) on pancreas homeostasis and leukocyte trafficking in mice fed on a high-fat diet. The data collected highlighted the potential for PEPITEM as a novel therapy to combat the systemic low-grade inflammation experienced in obesity and minimize the impact of obesity on pancreatic homeostasis. In another Editors’ choice, Carl-Philipp Hackstein and Paul Klenerman [5] reviewed current knowledge about unconventional and innate-like T cells, their functions, differences from and similarities to conventional T cells, focusing on the newest populations of these cells. Clinical and Experimental Immunology was very pleased to welcome four new Review Series. The Series titled ‘Unconventional T cells in Health and Disease’ was guest edited by professor Kelly McNagny (University of British Columbia, Canada). This series was inspired by the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) guest symposium at FOCIS 2022 ‘Unconventional T cells in Chronic Disease and as Targets of Therapy’ and highlights the biology and function of unconventional T cells including innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, CD8αα intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs). This series is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about these fascinating cell types [6–13]. A second Review Series was ‘Inborn errors of Immunity: The Goldilocks effect – susceptibility to disease due to a little too much or a little too little’ led by our Immunodeficiency Section Editor Professor Cindy Ma together with Professor Stuart Tangye from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia. Inborn errors of immunity are caused by germline variants in single genes that subsequently affect the development and/or function of immune cells. This often leads to increased susceptibility to severe and/or recurrent infection, but can also extend to include autoimmunity, autoinflammation, malignancy, and atopic disease. The Review Series consists of six articles describing variants in immune-related genes that result in either loss of function or gain of function of the encoded protein and the arising clinical outcomes [14–20]. A third Series, guest edited by Dr David Tough from GlaxoSmithKline and professor Giovanna Lombardi from King’s College London focused on ‘Therapeutic Opportunities for Regulatory T Cell Enhancing Approaches’. This Series contains seven articles, collectively presenting the latest insights into Treg-based therapies in general and more specifically for the treatment of central nervous system pathologies, transplantation, (muscle) tissue regeneration, and autoimmune diseases [21–28]. Finally, we were pleased to welcome part 2 of the very popular ‘Human B Cells’ Series, which was guest edited by professor Jo Spencer and Dr Thomas Tull from King’s College London and Dr Mats Bemark from the University of Gothenburg. This second part included two primary research papers and an additional review paper on human CD27 + memory B cells with an emphasis on function and immunoglobulin sequencing [29–32]. In other activities in 2023, Clinical & Experimental Immunology launched its first ever cross-journal collection, titled ‘Advances in Tissue Immunology’ which is a collaboration between the three journals of the British Society for Immunology, Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Immunotherapy Advances and Discovery Immunology. This collection is currently open to receive articles that explore the variations in and functions of immune cells in different tissues, and how they interact within and across tissue sites. This cross-journal collection was launched as part of a webinar: ‘Advances in Tissue Immunology’, which was chaired by professor Simon Milling, Editor-in-Chief of Discovery Immunology, and featured talks by Professor Arne Akbar, Dr Stephanie Dougan and Professor Leonie Taams who discussed examples of their recent research in tissue immunology and immunity in health and disease. As always, we are grateful to all our editorial board members, authors, reviewers, and readers for their engagement and support for the journal, without whom we would not be able to celebrate our continued success. None declared.

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