Adlung Lab

This new review from Core Investigator @christophthaiss.bsky.social & Innovation Investigator @maayanlevy.bsky.social maps how gut metabolites shape diseases from IBD to cancer, and lays out a framework for using them as therapies.

Tumor-antigen-independent targeting of solid tumors by armored macrophage-directed anti-TREM2 CAR T cells The suppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) severely limits CAR T cell therapy in solid tumors. Yagel et al. develop armored hTREM2 CAR T cells that target TREM2+ tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) rather than tumor antigens and locally secrete interleukin-12 (IL-12) via a TME-responsive biosensor. These cells deplete TAMs, reprogram the TME, and drive tumor regression without systemic toxicity, offering a promising strategy for broad solid tumor therapy.

Tumor-antigen-independent targeting of solid tumors by armored macrophage-directed anti-TREM2 CAR T cells

👀 Very decent Immunity paper from Danny Saban on how tissue-resident macrophages regulate eye pressure through remodelling of extracellular matrix; with lots of cool microscopy data: www.cell.com/immunit... 🧪

Interesting @cp-cell.bsky.social paper from @ucsfohns.bsky.social on inter-personal variability of immune states in healthy humans. TL;DR: Microbiome & metabolite variability is associated with differential interferon responses, which are stable over time: www.cell.com/cell/fu... 🧪

Really cool, I forwarded the unedited proof version already to my group to read. We were all delighted. As always, well written and conceptualised!

🚀 New in Communications Biology:
Generative models of cell dynamics - from Neural ODEs to Flow Matching
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

We discuss modeling single-cell dynamics beyond snapshots: from cont-time Neural ODEs to simulation-free flow matching for scalable pop modeling.

Out now in Cell Metabolism: Semaglutide ameliorates osteoarthritis progression through a weight loss-independent metabolic restoration mechanism www.cell.com/cell-me... 🧪

Distinct sympathetic projections to brown fat regulate thermogenesis and glucose tolerance Nature Metabolism - Neri et al. develop elegant tools to understand how the sympathetic nervous system regulates intrascapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) function. Using these tools, they find...

Brown fat (BAT) goes on your nerves? Rather the opposite: Two types of neurons separately regulate glucose tolerance and blood flow / thermogenesis. Cool paper from Lori Zeltser, PhD in Nature Metabolism: www.nature.com/artic... 🧪

Great resource, thanks a lot for compiling! And to students: I was asked about characteristics between mammalian vs. bacterial kinases in my PhD defence, so you better have a look 🤓

Benchmarking EGF signaling pathway inference using phosphoproteomics and kinase-substrate interactions - Nature Communications To what extent can large-scale approaches accurately reconstruct classic signaling pathways? Here, authors revisit the EGF pathway using phosphoproteomics and kinase-substrate interactions

Interested in kinase-driven signaling interactions? Check out our (now peer-reviewed) paper together with @savitski-lab.bsky.social on reconstructing signaling networks from phosphoproteomics data and prior knowledge:
➡️ doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Evaluating the analytical performance of direct-to-consumer gut microbiome testing services - Communications Biology Comparative analysis of DTC gut microbiome testing services reveals significant methodological variability, underscoring the need for standardized reference materials and guidelines to ensure reproducibility and reliability in commercial microbiome testing.

Results and health assessments from gut microbiome home-testing kits vary whether they are produced by the same or different manufacturers. The findings, published in Communications Biology, highlight the need for caution when interpreting or acting on test results, according to the authors. 🧪

Thanks to @natrevmicro.nature.com for discussing our work on gut microbiome control of HIV immunodeficiency as research highlight: www.nature.com/artic... 🧪

How do authors want to use AI for review? - EMBO Reports EMBO Reports - A survey of researchers who compared AI-generated scientific reviews with journal-agnostic human peer review reveals that they overwhelmingly prefer using AI as a self-checking tool...

This is such a great and timely survey on author's perception of peer review vs AI scientific review. A collaboration between @reviewcommons.org and @qedscience.bsky.social. The geek in me would have liked to see the distributions in the response scores ;). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Polystyrene microplastics hamper efferocytosis through accumulating methylglyoxal. Overexpression of glyoxylase-1 rescues the phenotype. Great work by Ana Codo from @mskcancercenter.bsky.social et al. open access in Immunity: www.cell.com/immunit... 🧪

Great review on efferocytosis and metabolic reprogramming in Springer Nature Cell Death & Disease from Karen Cristina Oliveira et al. from São Paulo State University:
www.nature.com/artic... 🧪

Those who know me, know I’m not someone who changes his preferences & behaviors lightly. As Ron Swanson said, “I regret nothing. The end.” Well, let me tell you about our new study, out from The Perry Lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social in @cp-immunity.bsky.social, which is the exception. /1

I didn't know about the GEOCODE cohort until I saw this new paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com on machine learning cytokine responses in healthy humans from Claire Liefferinckx et al. (@ulbruxelles.bsky.social)
Very cool!
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

Sweets from Paris

Was great to have @adeczkowska.bsky.social here, who delivered science & sweets from @aleksdelab.bsky.social of @pasteur.fr. Even more: She pointed out this stimulating essay by Ruslan Medzhitov on the balance of knowledge in immunology: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪 @natrevimmunol.nature.com

Great new paper from the immunodynamics group of Grégoire Altan-Bonnet, whom I admire scientifically, out now in @cp-cell.bsky.social. They show that immunotherapy outcomes are stochastic but Spark T cell abundance predicts responses: www.cell.com/cell/fu... 🧪

And here's the press release from the Weizmann Institute: wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-science... 🧪

New paper out on the role of Extracellular Vesicle (EV) cargo (from different apoptotic cells) on macrophage identity in Schistosomiasis. Christoph from my group and I were glad to make a humble contribution. Out now in the Journal of Extracellular Biology: isevjournals.onlinel... 🧪

I don't like the phrasing of the "bomb", but otherwise I like the idea of engineering macrophages to undergo controlled pyroptosis in the tumor micro-environment: www.cell.com/cell-re... 🧪 out in Cell Reports

Great pieces in the Voices of Cell Systems feat. Julio Saez-Rodriguez and @klingmuelab.bsky.social on the frontiers of systems biology in the next decade: www.cell.com/cell-sy... 🧪
TL;DR: Longitudinal deep molecular profiling and multimodal models for virtual organs and humans.

Epstein files reveal deeper ties to scientists than previously known Latest batch of documents show researchers consulting the financier and sex offender on publications, visas and more.

Newly released files from the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reveal that his ties to the scientific community were deeper than previously known

go.nature.com/4tFtHbT

Interesting paper from Kumar et al. (Mayo Clinic) in Cell Metabolism showing that oleic acid exacerbates synovitis through induction of pyroptosis of CD4 T cells. Perilipin-2 knockdown prevented phenotype: www.cell.com/cell-me... 🧪

Human immunodeficiency virus-associated gut microbiome impacts systemic immunodeficiency and susceptibility to opportunistic gut infection Nature Microbiology, Published online: 16 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-025-02253-8Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated gut microbiome dysbiosis correlates with systemic immunodeficiency and opportunistic gut infections. Faecal microbiome transplantation from people living with HIV with high peripheral CD4+ T cell counts improved intestinal immunity and protection against Cryptosporidium parvum in mice.

Out Now! Human immunodeficiency virus-associated gut microbiome impacts systemic immunodeficiency and susceptibility to opportunistic gut infection #MicroSky

🚨 New paper out today in Nature Microbiology! During my postdoc we explored how the gut microbiome of people living with HIV impacts immune function and susceptibility to opportunistic infections.

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Very cool work from my friend Naveed! 👇🏻

So, no, in the paper, we do not zoom in.

Thanks, Damian. Valid question, and definitely something to follow up on (: