Congratulations to the teams of Professor Mirela Kuka and Professor Matteo Iannacone, from the Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Diseases at IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, whose paper “T-cell-derived IFN-γ suppresses T follicular helper cell differentiation and antibody responses” has been featured on the cover of The EMBO Journal.

The study reveals a previously unrecognized role for the cytokine Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) as a molecular switch in adaptive immune responses. While IFN-γ strengthens antiviral immunity by enhancing T-cell responses, when present at very high levels it can suppress the development of T follicular helper cells, which are crucial for driving antibody production. These findings provide valuable insights into how IFN-γ shapes both cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune responses and have important implications for developing new drugs and vaccines to fight infectious diseases and, potentially, cancer.