PRINT E-MAIL Immunotherapy can cure some cancers that until fairly recently were considered fatal. In addition to developing drugs that boost the immune system’s cancer-fighting abilities, scientists are becoming expert at manipulating a patient’s own immune cells, turning them into cancer-killing armies. But cancers have tricks to evade attack, so scientists are racing to outmaneuver...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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New inflammation inhibitor discovered
A multidisciplinary team of researchers led from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed an anti-inflammatory drug molecule with a new mechanism of action. By inhibiting a certain protein, the researchers were able to reduce the signals that trigger an inflammation. The study is published in Science and was done in collaboration with the University of...
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Link between autoimmune, heart disease explained in mice
Immune cells cause cholesterol to be trapped in blood vessels WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE People with autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, even though none of these conditions seem to target the cardiovascular system directly. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine...
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Innate Immunity Differs Across Species and Cells, Gene Expression Study Finds
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Some innate immune system genes have evolved rapidly and vary widely in their expression across species and individual cells, while others are more conserved and consistent, according to a new study. The innate immune response kicks into gear upon infection to both inhibit pathogen replication and raise the alarm. This response...
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Scientists develop method to quickly enhance immune-system proteins
Rice University scientists have found a simple method to attach drugs or other substances to antibodies, the powerful proteins that are central to the body’s immune system. The Rice lab of bioengineer Han Xiao developed a technique called pClick, which uses a cross-linker that snaps to a specific site on antibodies and serves as a...
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New immunotherapy technique can specifically target tumor cells, UCI study reports
A new immunotherapy screening prototype developed by University of California, Irvine researchers can quickly create individualized cancer treatments that will allow physicians to effectively target tumors without the side effects of standard cancer drugs. UCI’s Weian Zhao and Nobel laureate David Baltimore with Caltech led the research team that developed a tracking and screening system...
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Silicone breast implant patients face greatly increased risk of autoimmune disease
Women with breast implants mostly only had to worry about leaks, but a large-scale Israeli study performed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Alberta confirmed almost one in four implantation patients is at risk of a serious autoimmune disorder. Credit: CC0 Public Domain “The risk of women with breast implantation developing an autoimmune...
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Gene signature discovery may predict response to immune therapy
(TORONTO, Canada, Nov. 8, 2018) – Scientists led by Dr. Daniel De Carvalho at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have discovered a gene signature biomarker that may predict which patients will respond – or not – to immune therapy. The findings are published online today in Nature Communications (doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06654-8). Dr. De Carvalho, principal investigator, says...
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Combination chemotherapy and immunotherapy effective in Phase II leukemia study
A combination of the standard-of-care chemotherapy drug known as azacitidine, with nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, demonstrated an encouraging response rate and overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) according to findings from a Phase II study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the trial,...
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Novel discovery could lead to new cancer, autoimmune disease therapy
Scanning electron micrograph of human T lymphocyte or T cell. Credit: NIAID/NIH A new discovery by an international research team—co-led by UBC Canada 150 Research Chair Josef Penninger and Harvard Medical School neurobiologist Clifford Woolf—could have implications for therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Credit: NIAID/NIH In a study published today in Nature, researchers outline...