Chemical immunology: Recent advances in tool development and applications.

Immunology was one of the first biological fields to embrace chemical approaches. The development of new chemical approaches and techniques has provided immunologists with an impressive arsenal of tools to address challenges once considered insurmountable. This review focuses on advances at the interface of chemistry and immunobiology over the past two decades that have not only opened new avenues in basic immunological research, but also revolutionized drug development for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. These include chemical approaches to understand and manipulate antigen presentation and the T cell priming process, to facilitate immune cell trafficking and regulate immune cell functions, and therapeutic applications of chemical approaches to disease control and treatment. [Display omitted] Chemical strategies to modulate the immune system have transformed our understanding of fundamental problems in immunology and advanced our ability to treat human disease. Shi et al. highlight methods that exploit bioorthogonal chemistry to probe cell-cell interactions, redirect endogenous immune responses, and potentiate immunotherapy in the cancer-immunity cycle and autoimmunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]