Significant progress made in the development of an acne vaccine using a novel therapeutic approach, according to a new study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology ELSEVIER Berlin, August 29, 2018 – A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reports important steps that have been taken towards the development of an acne...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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Newly discovered skull channels play role in immunity
Researchers have now discovered “tiny channels” that allow the injured brain to communicate with bone marrow in the process of inflammation. These “tunnels” are key to ensuring a quick immune response. Inflammation occurs as an immune response to instances of infection or injury within the body. ‘Tiny channels’ in the skull allow injured brain tissue to...
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Researchers find elusive source of most abundant immune cell
Neutrophils—short-lived, highly mobile and versatile—outnumber all other immune cells circulating through the bloodstream. Yet, despite the cells’ abundance, the progenitor cell that only gives rise to neutrophils had eluded all efforts to track it down. Now, researchers at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology identified a progenitor of neutrophils in the bone marrow of...
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Primary tumors found to “freeze” spread of secondary cancers
Cancer is bad enough in one spot, but the disease gets especially dangerous once it starts migrating throughout the body. Finding ways to stop this process, known as metastasis, is a key way to improve survival rates for patients. Now researchers have found that primary tumors have their own mechanism for slowing the growth of secondary cancers, which...
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A specific active immunotherapy to control cholesterol levels in blood
Cardiovascular disease still accounts for the greatest number of deaths worldwide. PCSK9-inhibition reduces the risk of cardiovascular events by regulation of the LDL (low density lipoprotein) receptor, one of the transporters of cholesterol in blood. The protein PCSK9 binds to the LDL-cholesterol receptor and enhances its degradation, which leads to the reduced clearance of LDL-cholesterol...
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HIV RNA expression inhibitors may restore immune function in HIV-infected individuals
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (BOSTON) – Immune activation and inflammation persist in the majority of treated HIV-infected individuals and is associated with excess risk of mortality and morbidity. A new study by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers suggests that use of HIV RNA expression inhibitors as adjunct therapy might diminish atypical inflammation and restore...
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Newly found ‘micro-organ’ is immune response ‘headquarters’
We know that our bodies learn how to mount efficient defenses to disease and infection after exposure to such health hazards. In short, our bodies “learn” to identify the culprits and how to destroy them. Where is that “memory” activated and the response mounted? New research finally reveals where the immune response actually starts in the body....
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Researchers stop cell suicide that worsens sepsis, arthritis
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a way to stop immune cell death associated with multiple diseases, including sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and arthritis. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The findings, published in Science Immunology, identify a chemical that potently inhibits inflammatory cell death. Cells often perforate their own membranes in...
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Research team develops predictor for immunotherapy response in melanoma
In a new study, researchers developed a gene expression predictor that can indicate whether melanoma in a specific patient is likely to respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a novel type of immunotherapy. The predictor was developed by Noam Auslander, Ph.D., with other researchers in the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the...
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First in-depth profile of CAR T-cell signals suggests how to improve immunotherapy
August 21, 2018, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center CAR T-cell therapy, which reprograms immune cells to fight cancer, has shown great promise in people with some blood cancers who have not responded to other treatments. But until now, the underlying biological pathways enabling anti-cancer responses have not been thoroughly examined. CAR-T cells with stronger signaling intensity were less...