by University of Bonn Optical biosensor decodes signaling of endosomal TLRs. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53770-9 Immune cells are capable of detecting infections just like a sniffer dog, using special sensors known as Toll-like receptors, or TLRs for short. But what signals activate TLRs, and what is the relationship between the scale and nature of this activation...
Tag: <span>Immune cells</span>
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Long COVID inflicts deep scars on the lungs. Targeting specific immune cells could reverse damage
September 4, 2024 by Harish Narasimhan, The Conversation Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public DomainThe long-term effects of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 are a major public health burden. Some estimates suggest over 65 million people around the world suffer from long COVID-19. Efforts to better understand this condition, however, have been hampered by its ability to...
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Gut microbiome found to influence location of immune cells
September 12, 2024 by Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Images of the colons of conventional (left) and germ free (right) mice showing how bacterial colonization affects the distribution of immune cells along the mouse intestine. CD45 immune cells are show in red, CD3 immune cells are shown in yellow. Immune cells are concentrated close...
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Study uncovers key immune cells for combating aggressive Merkel cell carcinoma
July 26, 2024 by H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public DomainMerkel cell carcinoma is a rare but highly aggressive form of skin cancer known for its rapid growth and tendency to metastasize. Despite the promise of immune checkpoint blockade therapy, which can boost the body’s immune response against cancer cells,...
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Gene editing precisely repairs immune cells
by Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Mutated T cells are unable to kill B cells (red) induced by the Epstein-Barr virus. This causes other immune cells to flow into the area of infection, thereby blocking a blood vessel (center). Credit: Elijah D. Lowenstein and Xun Li, K. Rajewsky Lab, Max Delbrück CenterSome hereditary genetic defects...
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Immune cells lose ‘killer instinct’ in cancerous tumors – but functionality can be re-awakened
First study tracking how NK cells respond to the tumour microenvironment in real time discovered that stimulating the IL-15 pathway prevented the rapid loss of function and improved tumor controlPeer-Reviewed Publication UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM Some immune cells in our bodies see their ‘killer instinct’ restricted after entering solid tumours, according to new research. In a...
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When and how immune cells decide to form pathogen memories
During infection, reversible switch permits flexible formation of memory T cells, long-lived blood cells that can remember pathogen encounters and respond upon reinfection.Peer-Reviewed Publication UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE/UW MEDICINE THIS MOVIE SHOWS A SINGLE NAIVE CD8 T CELL. A TYPE OF WHITE BLOOD CELL INVOLVED IN IMMUNITY ACTIVATING IN RESPONSE TO STIMULATION THROUGH...
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“Armored” immune cells make their own medicine to keep fighting cancer
By Michael Irving Scientists have supercharged immunotherapy by engineering CAR T cells that can produce their own “medicine” to keep them fighting in the hostile environment around tumors Depositphotos A new form of immunotherapy helps immune cells “armor” themselves against exhaustion by releasing their own medicine to keep them going in the fight against cancer. In...
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Time change for biological aging clocks: How immune cells shape our body’s true age
by Dartmouth Health The association between immune cell composition and EAA for Horvath, Hannum, Pheno, and Zhang, DunedinPACE, and EpiTOC2 TNSC clocks across three age groups (0, 0–18, 18–99). Sex, chronological age, ancestry, and disease status were adjusted (*FDR < 0.05, **FDR < 0.01, ***FDR < 0.001). Credit: Aging Cell (2023). DOI: 10.1111/acel.14071When asked, “How old are you?” Most people measure by...
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Immune cells that fight cancer become exhausted within hours of first encountering tumors
Published: August 3, 2023 11.01am EDT Authors Mary PhilipAssistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Vanderbilt University Michael RudloffMD-Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular Pathology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University This microscopy image shows a cytotoxic T cell (blue) attacking a cancer cell (green) by releasing toxic chemicals (red). Alex Ritter and Jennifer Lippincott Schwartz and Gillian Griffiths/National Institutes of...