The biological causes underlying obesity have been under intense scrutiny, with studies suggesting a link between the nervous and the immune systems. Now, in a breakthrough study to be published in Nature Medicineon 9 October, a research team led by Ana Domingos, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC; Portugal), discovered an unforeseen population of immune cells...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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Seeing hope: FDA panel considers gene therapy for blindness (Update)
In this Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, photo, Beth Guardino, left, and her son, Christian, talk about the 17-year-old’s life before and after gene therapy treatment for his hereditary blindness during an interview at their home in Patchogue, N.Y. …more A girl saw her mother’s face for the first time. A boy tore through the aisles...
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Scientists Establish New Nonviral Method for CRISPR Using Gold Nanoparticles
IN BRIEF CRISPR’s method of delivery has been raised as one limitation of the otherwise revolutionary technology. Now, a team of scientists has successfully tested a nonviral approach. GOLDEN TICKET CRISPR has the potential to revolutionize genetic engineering, but up until now, delivery methods have been something of a limiting factor. However, a new study has...
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Crohn’s Disease Disturbs the Immune Properties of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Related to Inflammasome Activation
Highlights •ASCs isolated from CD patients are highly proliferative, invasive, and phagocytic •Proliferative ASCs may be responsible for the development of creeping fat •ASCs from CD patients have dampened immunosuppressive properties •Selection of the best immunosuppressive ASCs for cell therapy is advocated Summary Crohn’s disease (CD) is characterized by the expansion of mesenteric fat, also...
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DNA mutations shed in blood predicts response to immunotherapy in patients with cancer
In a first-of-its-kind study, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that a blood sample, or liquid biopsy, can reveal which patients will respond to checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapies. “We can help predict response to immunotherapy by measuring the number of mutations in circulating tumor DNA using a simple blood test,” said Yulian...
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Researchers look to protect ‘self-reactive’ immune cells so they can fight melanoma
CHAPEL HILL — Researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are using what they know about a rare, inherited autoimmune disease to turn the body’s defenses against melanoma. In JCI Insight, researchers report on a potential new way to fight melanoma by blocking one of the immune system’s checks and balances. Combining...
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Scientists Develop Broad-spectrum Inhibitors of Influenza Virus
A team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and Janssen Research & Development (Janssen) has devised artificial peptide molecules that neutralize a broad range of influenza virus strains. Peptides are short chains of amino acids – like proteins but with smaller, simpler structures. These designed molecules have the potential to be developed into...
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Uncovering why psoriasis recurs
New research by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Rockefeller University helps address a longstanding question about the inflammatory skin condition psoriasis: Why do skin lesions that have resolved with therapy recur in the same locations after a patient stops using topical steroids? According to BWH physician scientist Rachael Clark, MD, PhD, of the...
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Serum Institute’s vaccine demonstrates significant efficacy against severe rotavirus
Pune, India (26 September 2017) – Results from a Phase 3 efficacy study in India of the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.’s rotavirus vaccine BRV-PV (known as ROTASIIL) were published in the journal Vaccine. The study showed the vaccine to be safe, well tolerated, and to provide significant efficacy against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis. In 2013,...
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Immune cells produce wound healing factor, could lead to new IBD treatment
Specific immune cells have the ability to produce a healing factor that can promote wound repair in the intestine, a finding that could lead to new, potential therapeutic treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new research study. The research team, led by Georgia State University and the University of Michigan, wanted to...