Millions of people in the United States and across the world have hypertension, a condition that, without proper management, can contribute to the risk of heart disease and stroke. woman getting her blood pressure checked Specialist white blood cells play an important role in the regulation of blood pressure, a new study finds. Data from...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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Immune system found to tap into chaos theory to regulate itself
The immune system is incredibly complex, but most of us would probably assume that ideally it runs very precisely, like clockwork. However, a new study has found that a big dose of chaos is not just present but may be a necessary piece of the puzzle in helping the immune system regulate itself. Researchers have...
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Energizing the immune system to eat cancer
Immune cells called macrophages are supposed to serve and protect, but cancer has found ways to put them to sleep. Now researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they’ve identified how to fuel macrophages with the energy needed to attack and eat cancer cells. It is well established that macrophages...
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Secret to sepsis may lie in rare cell (basophils)
In a paper published in Nature Immunology, scientists from Seattle Children’s Research Institute reveal how a rare group of white blood cells called basophils play an important role in the immune response to a bacterial infection, preventing the development of sepsis. Researchers say their findings could lead to better ways to prevent the dangerous immune...
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Faulty molecular master switch may contribute to AMD
A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that interrupting TGF-beta signals to immune cells called microglia causes the cells to enter an activated, inflammatory state....
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Heating up cold tumors
NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2019–A Ludwig Cancer Research study has uncovered a cellular mechanism by which melanomas that fail to respond to checkpoint blockade may be made susceptible to such immunotherapies. Led by Ping-Chih Ho of the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and reported in the current issue of Nature Immunology,...
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In surprising reversal, scientists find a cellular process that stops cancer before it starts
Just as plastic tips protect the ends of shoelaces and keep them from fraying when we tie them, molecular tips called telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes and keep them from fusing when cells continually divide and duplicate their DNA. But while losing the plastic tips may lead to messy laces, telomere loss may lead...
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Small metabolites have big effects on the intestinal immune response
Gut microbiota such as lactobacillus produce lactate and pyruvate. These metabolites stimulate intestinal macrophages through the receptor GPR31, allowing macrophages to protrude trans-epithelial dendrites and take up pathogenic bacteria efficiently in the intestine. Accordingly, lactate and pyruvate cause enhanced immune responses to pathogenic bacteria and increased resistance to the infection. Credit: Osaka University For at...
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VISTA checkpoint implicated in pancreatic cancer Immunotherapy resistance
Researchers have identified a new potential Immunotherapy target in pancreatic cancer, which so far has been notoriously resistant to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade drugs effective against a variety of other cancers. Axial CT image with i.v. contrast. Macrocystic adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. Credit: public domain. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center...
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Progress in the fight against brain cancer
A series of steps shows hope for improving treatments. “I knew it was serious from the sober demeanor of the medical professionals in the room.” That was how US Senator John McCain described his diagnosis of cancer in his 2018 book The Restless Wave. “And when someone, I don’t remember who, mentioned that it was...