Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation in an Amish community that lets them live longer and protects them from diabetes and other age-related illnesses Scientists at Northwestern University have discovered a genetic mutation in an isolated Amish population that helps them live longer and healthier lives, and protects them from diabetes and other age-related...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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Newly found immune defence could pave way to treat allergies
Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how our body’s immune system clears harmful infections. Researchers have identified a previously unknown mechanism by which the responses of key cells of the immune system are regulated. The finding could inform research into improved treatments for allergies or chronic inflammatory diseases, such as lung and liver fibrosis, researchers say. Scientists at the...
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How a poorly explored immune cell may impact cancer immunity and immunotherapy
Tumor cells secrete lactate (blue dots) that makes contact with naïve T cells and contributes to FIP200 expression that disables the balance between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic gene expression in the cells. The immune cells that are trained to fight off the body’s invaders can become defective. It’s what allows cancer to develop. So most...
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Scientists make first ever attempt at gene editing inside the body
New therapy will permanently alter DNA, with no way to alter mistakes editing may cause – but offers chance to tackle currently incurable metabolic diseases Brian Madeux, 44, sits with his girlfriend Marcie Humphrey, waiting to receive the first human gene editing therapy. Scientists have tried editing a gene inside the body for the...
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Immune cells mistake heart attacks for viral infections
By using single cell RNA Seq, an emerging technique that combines microfluidic nanoliter droplet reactors with single cell barcoding and next generation sequencing, the researchers were able to examine expression of every gene in over 4,000 …more A study led by Kevin King, a bioengineer and physician at the University of California San Diego, has...
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Clinical trial finds blood-plasma infusions for Alzheimer’s safe, promising
In a small safety trial based on preclinical work by a Stanford researcher, participants receiving blood plasma infusions from young donors showed some evidence of improvement. Sharon Sha presented findings Nov. 4 from a small clinical trial that found administering blood plasma from young donors to people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease was safe....
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Immune cell policing offers insights into cancer, autoimmune disease
Skin samples from mice whose regulatory immune cells (Tregs) lack the Lkb1 protein (bottom) are under attack from other immune cells (purple dots) compared to normal mice whose Tregs have the Lkb1 protein (top). Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are the traffic cops of the immune system. They instruct other types of immune cells on...
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The battle between cancer and the immune system—who switches the off signals off?
Research centred on PDL1, an ‘immune checkpoint’ protein and prominent target of cancer immunotherapies. Scientists have discovered key new information about how to boost our immune system’s fight against cancer. Their research revealed a trick that healthy cells use to prevent undue suppression of the immune response. The study, by scientists from the University of York,...
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New insights into the release of molecules involved in inflammatory diseases
Image of a biopsy from the intestine of a mouse that has inflammatory bowel disease, a condition in which TNF-mediated inflammation is heavily implicated. In a recent study published in Cell Reports, a research team led by Colin Adrain, from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC, Portugal), discovered the mechanism that controls the release of...
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New link found between gut bacteria and age-related conditions
A new study shows for the first time that gut bacteria from old mice induce age-related chronic inflammation when transplanted into young mice. Called “inflammaging”, this low-grade chronic inflammation is linked to life-limiting conditions such as stroke, dementia and cardiovasuclar disease. The research, published today in open-access journal Frontiers in Immunology, brings the hope of a...