Back Cover Story: Eur. J. Immunol. 10'16.

Our back cover features an immunofluorescence staining for TCR Vα7.2 on both the surface and the cytoplasm of the T lymphocytes (red) in human tonsil. The image is taken from article by Wang et al. (pp. 2409-2419), in which the authors show that Vα7.2(+) mucosa- associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are numerically and functionally altered in peripheral blood (PB) of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients. The reduction of MAIT cells in PB might be partially due to migration into the target tissue, as supported by MAIT cells detected in the salivary gland tissue from pSS patients, but not in controls. The altered function of MAIT cells may result in disturbed innate immunity and homeostasis in target organs.