Even as overall cancer incidence and mortality decrease in the United States, the number of people diagnosed with liver cancer is on the rise. Current therapies for liver cancer are largely ineffective, resulting in poor outcomes, but new preclinical data from University of California San Diego School of Medicine offers proof-of-principle for a combination immunotherapy...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
Post
Self-sterilizing microneedles revolutionizing vaccination and drug delivery
Vaccinations are the world’s frontline defence against infectious diseases yet despite decades of interventions, unsafe injection practices continue to expose billions of people to serious infection and disease. Now, new technology from the University of South Australia is revolutionising safe vaccination practices through antibacterial, silver-loaded dissolvable microneedle patches, which not only sterilise the injection site to inhibit the growth of bacteria,...
Post
No link found between MMR vaccine and autism, even among children with other risk factors for autism
A nationwide cohort study of all children born in Denmark to Danish-born mothers between 1999 through 2010 concluded that the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase the risk of autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases following vaccination. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The hypothesized link between measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake....
Post
Reducing B cells with CAR T cells is effective treatment of experimental lupus
CD-19-targeting CAR-T cells restored proper skin structure and reduced inflammation in mouse models of lupus (bottom). Credit: R. Kansal et al., Science Translational Medicine (2019) Depleting the number of harmful B cells with a novel immunotherapy that employs modified T cells may offer an effective strategy to treat lupus, according to a new study funded...
Post
How does the body respond to diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis?
IMAGE: ASPECTS OF B CELL, T CELL, AND MACROPHAGE RESPONSES CONTRIBUTE TO PARASITE SURVIVAL IN DCL PATIENTS. INCREASED B CELL PRESENCE AND ALTERED ANTIBODY REPERTOIRES PROMOTE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PHENOTYPES IN THE LESION… view more CREDIT: CHRISTENSEN, ET AL. (CC BY 4.0, 2019) In diffuse cutaneous leishmanisis (DCL), a rare form of leishmaniasis, parasites grow uncontrolled in skin lesions across...
Post
Researchers uncover new facets of HIV’s ‘arms race’ with human defense system
A new study reveals details about the evolutionary contest between HIV and the human immune system that could one day improve treatment. Research led by Shan-Lu Liu of The Ohio State University demonstrates the important role of one protein in allowing HIV to flourish within human cells despite the immune system’s efforts to beat it...
Post
The climate change within—missing microbes and the evolution of the microbiome
The human microbiome – that invisible world of bacteria, viruses and fungi in and on our bodies – has been relatively unstudied even though scientists have known about it for centuries. But thanks to researchers like Martin Blaser, the world of science and medicine is starting to pay closer attention. “There is an ecological problem – climate...
Post
Likelihood of tick bite to cause red meat allergy could be higher than previously thought
Until now it has been believed that in order for a tick to trigger an allergic immune response to alpha-gal in humans, the tick would need to have recently fed on the alpha-gal-rich blood of a mammal. New research from the UNC School of Medicine presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) annual conference in San...
Post
World’s first skin atlas to see the light of day
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have compiled an atlas of the protein composition of the human skin. It will be released today at a scientific symposium held in connection with the inauguration of the university’s new skin research center. The atlas is based on supercomputer analyses and provides invaluable knowledge of psoriasis, eczema, allergies...
Post
Typhoid vaccine may protect against other infections
New research by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine shows that vaccination with weakened strains of Salmonella may also protect against other infections. The researchers hope that the findings could impact vaccination strategy in the developing world, where infectious diseases are common and where broader protection could potentially save many lives. Typhoid fever is a bacterial bloodstream infection caused by Salmonella Typhi that is...