New research published in the May 2017 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology provides another reason why smoking tobacco is harmful. In the report, researchers from Denmark show that smokers have reduced levels of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, a cell type involved in autoimmune diseases. Not only does this information shed more light on the...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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First patient receives experimental immunotherapy for cancer
The experimental MG1MA3 virus used in this trial is derived from a virus called Maraba that was first isolated from Brazilian sandflies. It has been engineered to infect and kill cancer cells directly, while also triggering an immune …more A Hamilton patient is the first trial participant to receive a novel experimental immunotherapy treatment for...
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The molecular underpinnings of T cell exhaustion
Prolonged overactivity of killer T cells summoned to a tumor or infection site can render them useless to dispatch invaders, a cellular state immunologists call “exhaustion.” Credit: National Institutes of Health One reason we survive into adulthood is that cell-killing T cells usually recognize and eliminate cancerous or pathogen-infected cells. But prolonged overactivity of...
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Autoimmune disease: Could modified red blood cells lead to new treatments?
New treatments that prevent and alleviate autoimmune diseases may come from using red blood cells to carry disease-specific proteins that retrain the immune system. So concludes a study that shows such an approach works in mice with multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. The researchers say that their method of using red blood cells to...
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Targeting The Immune System May Help Stop The Itch Of Eczema
A new treatment may help reduce the itch of atopic dermatitis, which will reduce flare-ups. Meredith Rizzo/NPR People with moderate to severe eczema may benefit from new treatments that significantly reduce the intense itching that comes with the scaly skin disease. A study published Wednesday finds that the antibody nemolizumab, given as a monthly injection, not only...
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Mysterious Reason Traced To Immune Fault
Considerable time has been spent by scientists in analyzing the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. The puzzle, however, persisted without any clue whether it was a psychological or physical illness. There are one million Americans affected by this disease. Complete exhaustion makes people afflicted with CFS incapacitated to work or study. The underlying...
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A new role for an old immune cell may lead to novel therapies for infection and cancer
A new study has identified a previously undescribed role for a type of unconventional T cell with the potential to be used in the development of new therapies for infection and cancer. The study, published today in Nature Communications, shows that Gamma Delta T cells are able to generate immunological memory against previous infections and cancerous...
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The Principles of Engineering Immune Cells to Treat Cancer
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have proven that engineered immune cells can serve as a powerful new class of cancer therapeutics. Clinical experience has helped to define the major challenges that must be met to make engineered T cells a reliable, safe, and effective platform that can be deployed against a broad range of tumors. The...
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Poisoning the Devil
Our sight was caught by the subject line of an email we received on March 12, 2016: “American Society of Hematology (ASH) Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize.” It came from Charles Abrams, President of the ASH Society, congratulating Zhu Chen for being the recipient of the 2016 Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize together with our...
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Applications of Immunogenomics to Cancer
Cancer immunogenomics originally was framed by research supporting the hypothesis that cancer mutations generated novel peptides seen as “non-self” by the immune system. The search for these “neoantigens” has been facilitated by the combination of new sequencing technologies, specialized computational analyses, and HLA binding predictions that evaluate somatic alterations in a cancer genome and interpret...