Jonathan Kagan

Poster of the 2026 CSHA meeting on Bacterial Infection & Host Defense.

Please join us for the Cold Spring Harbor Asia @cshlnews.bsky.social meeting on Bacterial Infection & Host Defense this May 11-15 in Suzhou, China! We have a fantastic lineup of speakers. Abstract deadline is March 6. Hope to see you there!

STING-dependent translation inhibition restricts RNA virus replication | PNAS In mammalian cells, IFN responses that occur during RNA and DNA virus infections are activated by distinct signaling pathways. The RIG-I–like-recep...

For additional reading on this topic:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

STING–NF-κB signaling builds an influenza spillover barrier Influenza pandemics are often traced back to the spillover of avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) to humans. However, barriers against IAV transmission remain elusive. We demonstrated human stimulator of...

Increasing evidence that STING has functions beyond DNA viruses. A new study reports that STING restricts influenza infection, independently of IFN. This work complements prior studies that STING prevents infection with diverse RNA viruses.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Innate Immunity: Diversity in Host Defense and Disease | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Innate Immunity: Diversity in Host Defense and Disease, March 2026, in Banff, with field leaders!

Poster deadline is approaching for @keystoneSymposia.bsky.social #InnateImmunity: Diversity in #HostDefense & Disease, this March in Banff! See scholarship, abstract and registration: keysym.us/KSInnateImmune26 #KSInnateImmune26 @jkagan1.bsky.social @brozlab.bsky.social

Caspase-4 binds to LPS membranes with positive curvature for non-canonical inflammasome activation The cytosolic LPS sensor caspase-4 controls antibacterial immunity by inducing pyroptosis and cytokine secretion. Began et al. show how remodeling of LPS membranes by interferon-induced GTPase GBP1 pr...

PAPER ALERT!
I am excited to share that our study describing the molecular mechanism of caspase-4 activation has just been published in Immunity.
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

I would like to thank all the co-authors for their valuable contributions.
Well done guys!
Link for short summary below👇

On the balance of knowledge - Nature Reviews Immunology Ruslan Medzhitov shares his thoughts on the balance between generating data and developing theories in immunology, with a focus on exploring the rules that govern complex systems.

Too much data, too little thinking.
A important essay from Ruslan Medzhitov on the importance of understanding data, not just generating it. A must read.
@Yale
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌟 Congratulations to the 2026 Class of Distinguished Fellows of AAI (DFAAI)!

From groundbreaking research to dedicated service, these members represent the pinnacle of the immunology field. Check out this year’s honorees: https://bit.ly/DFAAI2026.

#DFAAI #Immunology #ScienceExcellence

Innate Immunity Meeting Promo YouTube video by KeystoneSymposia

A fantastic innate immunity conference coming soon. Join us!
youtu.be/xmQv36uYm7s?...

Scientific Editor, Cell Cell has an opening for a full-time scientific editor. If you are a passionate, mission-driven team player who loves thinking broadly about science and wants to have a positive impact, we invite you t...

Cell is hiring!

Do you have a background in #neuroscience or #immunology? Better still, #neuroimmunology? Cell has an opening for a full-time scientific editor. Role will be based out of any one of our offices in Medford, MA, UK, Spain, Netherlands, China tinyurl.com/4ma236xn @cp-cell.bsky.social

Hallmarks of cancer—Then and now, and beyond Hanahan revisits the evolving framework of cancer hallmarks, synthesizing 25 years of conceptual refinement into a multidimensional view of tumor biology. This review highlights how aberrant capabilit...

Today at Cell: A new #HallmarksofCancer review by Doug Hanahan: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
This review marks 25 years since the original seminal Cell review by Hanahan & Robert Weinberg and its impactful follow up in 2011.
@cp-cell.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social

🎓 Early-career scientists - don’t miss out! Register by Jan 21 (11:59 PM MST) for the joint Keystone Symposia on Innate Immunity & Aging. Save $250 and attend two meetings for the price of one.

🔗 keysym.us/KSInnateImmu...
🔗 keysym.us/KSAging26

@jkagan1.bsky.social
#KSInnateImmune26 #KSAging26

Dealing with ScienCV formatting Some tips for composing and making your new NIH biosketch not look like garbage

Been hearing some horrifying chatter about dealing with the new #NIH common form and #ScienCV system, so I put together a short video with some tricks for mitigating some of those pain points.

Hope it helps? 🧪

open.substack.com/pub/emptymod...

What goes into planning the world's largest all-immunology event? Join AAI President Dr. Uli von Andrian and Program Chair Dr. Shekhar Pasare for a preview of #IMMUNOLOGY2026™!

🧬 Presidential Symposium
🔬 Special Sessions
🎓 Trainee Programs

🔗 immunology2026.aai.org

In vivo detection of immune responses via cytokine activity labeling While much is known about the identity and regulation of cytokine-producing cells, the cell types that respond to cytokines remain largely uncharacter…

#CyclopsPower👁️ Lu, Choi, Huh &co describe @cp-cell.bsky.social a new reporter system to detect cells that respond to a cytokine & utilize it to identify ileal epithelial cells that respond to IL17 or IFNg responsive CD8 T cell within tumors which are hypofunctional!

A must read! Highly recommend.

Molecular, Cellular, Tissue, and Organismal Functions of Type III Interferons Type III interferons are essential immune mediators playing pleiotropic roles during health and disease. In this review, we highlight the molecular and cellular pathways that lead to the production of...

💥New paper alert!💥 What’s better than starting 2026 with an @annualreviews.bsky.social #Immunology, often a once-in-a-life honor ❤️?! Check it out if you want to know everything about type III interferons #IFN! Thanks to my wonderful team for their amazing work 🤗 doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Innate Immunity: Diversity in Host Defense and Disease | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Innate Immunity: Diversity in Host Defense and Disease, March 2026, in Banff, with field leaders!

Working with a great team to organize @keystoneSymposia.bsky.social #InnateImmunity : Diversity in #HostDefense & Disease, this March! Join us to explore emerging research in Banff! keysym.us/KSInnateImmune26 #KSInnateImmune26

LPS binding caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARDs) are bipartite lipid binding modules A bacterial sensory protein detects self- and nonself-lipids by similar mechanisms.

Article on the discovery of how LPS is detected by caspase-11.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cracking the Code of Immunity Immunologists have long studied how our body fights pathogens, but the precise patterns of molecules required to trigger an immune response weren’t fully understood. As a PhD student, Anh Cao took the...

Harvard profiles the discovery of how inflammatory caspases detect bacterial infection. And how our own lipids bind caspases in the same manner.

Kudos to Anh Cao, who made these discoveries.
@harvardmed.bsky.social @harvard.edu

gsas.harvard.edu/news/crackin...

www.forbes.com/sites/johnwe...

MOLECULAR DEFINITION OF THE ENDOGENOUS TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR SIGNALING PATHWAY YouTube video by HFSP

1/2: YouTube knows what I was up to last summer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV7r...

Many thanks again to @hfspo.bsky.social for inviting me to the Awardees Meeting in Melbourne this July 😁

Many congrats on this recognition for your outstanding work. Can't wait to learn what you discover next!

Correction of age-associated defects in dendritic cells enables CD4+ T cells to eradicate tumors Adjuvants known as hyperactivators can correct age-associated defects in dendritic cells, enabling anti-tumor T cell responses in old and young mice. The protective immunity elicited by hyperactive de...

For additional reading: Original study describing how NLRP3-stimulatory vaccines induce CD4 T cell mediated anti-tumor immunity.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

CD27 agonism enhances long-lived CD4 T cell vaccine responses critical for antitumor immunity CD27 agonism enhances vaccine-induced CD4 T cell responses, enabling durable antitumor immunity not entirely dependent on CD8 T cells.

Evidence continues to accumulate that CD4 T cells are important for vaccine induced anti-tumor immunity. A new study links CD27 to the generation of long-lived protective CD4 T cells. Kudos to the authors on this exciting finding.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#Evavold Lab 2025 Holiday memories.

It's been a challenging year, but these hurdles led to many scientific and personal reasons to celebrate.

Macrophage Interest Group with Garris lab and Prof. Eric Dang!

@ragoninstitute.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social @massgeneralbrigham.bsky.social

Human gut M cells resemble dendritic cells and present gluten antigen - Nature An intestinal organoid model recapitulates human microfold (M) cell function and transcriptomic profiling and biochemical assays demonstrate that M cells uptake and present antigens to the immune syst...

#WeekendRead! #EveryCellIsAnImmuneCell! #MysterySolved! Clevers &co reveal @nature the differentiation trajectory of human intestinal M cells & show they respond to GM-CSF, express PRRs, & present antigen via MHC-II as dendritic cells, contributing to anti-gluten responses!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Correction of age-associated defects in dendritic cells enables CD4+ T cells to eradicate tumors Adjuvants known as hyperactivators can correct age-associated defects in dendritic cells, enabling anti-tumor T cell responses in old and young mice. The protective immunity elicited by hyperactive de...

For background reading on this technology:
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The Longevity Revolution Starts With Your Immune System | Nick Seaver & Dania Zhivaki | TEDxBoston YouTube video by TEDx Talks

Want to stay healthy into old age?
Check this fantastic Ted Talk, which discusses a new technology to revitalize the aging immune system to fight cancer. Ponce de Leon would be proud.
Kudos to Dania Zhivaki and Nick Seaver for masterful oration.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTQ...

An NLRP3-stimulatory adjuvant improves the immunogenicity of influenza virus vaccines in mice and non-human primates | mBio The generation of vaccines that stimulate T cell activities is an unmet need for the scientific community, as T cells are the primary mediators of immune memory. In this study, we report a new vaccine...

First study linking oxidized lipids to immunity in primates
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Inflammasomes within Hyperactive Murine Dendritic Cells Stimulate Long-Lived T Cell-Mediated Anti-tumor Immunity Central to anti-tumor immunity are dendritic cells (DCs), which stimulate long-lived protective T cell responses. Recent studies have demonstrated that DCs can achieve a state of hyperactivation, which is associated with inflammasome activities ...

Original study linking oxidized lipids to inflammasomes in anti-tumor immunity.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...