University of Lausanne

About: University of Lausanne is a education organization based out in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 20508 authors who have published 46458 publications receiving 1996655 citations. The organization is also known as: Université de Lausanne & UNIL.

Defining ‘T cell exhaustion’

Abstract: 'T cell exhaustion' is a broad term that has been used to describe the response of T cells to chronic antigen stimulation, first in the setting of chronic viral infection but more recently in response to tumours. Understanding the features of and pathways to exhaustion has crucial implications for the success of checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell transfer therapies. In this Viewpoint article, 18 experts in the field tell us what exhaustion means to them, ranging from complete lack of effector function to altered functionality to prevent immunopathology, with potential differences between cancer and chronic infection. Their responses highlight the dichotomy between terminally differentiated exhausted T cells that are TCF1- and the self-renewing TCF1+ population from which they derive. These TCF1+ cells are considered by some to have stem cell-like properties akin to memory T cell populations, but the developmental relationships are unclear at present. Recent studies have also highlighted an important role for the transcriptional regulator TOX in driving the epigenetic enforcement of exhaustion, but key questions remain about the potential to reverse the epigenetic programme of exhaustion and how this might affect the persistence of T cell populations.

Classifying Welfare States: a Two-dimension Approach

Abstract: This article begins with a survey of some influential classifications of welfare states based on different dimensions of social policy. Advantages and shortcomings are pointed out in relation to each classification reviewed. It is argued that none of these single-dimension classifications is in fact adequate to understand past and current developments in European social policy. An alternative classification, which combines elements of the ones reviewed above into a two-dimension approach, is proposed. This two-dimension classification is then related to past developments and current debates in European welfare states. The strength of this approach is its ability to reflect social policy developments in terms of both the expansion/contraction of state welfare and the convergence/divergence of European social policies.