JUNE 21ST, 2021 CONN HASTINGS Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a nanodecoy system that provides binding sites for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vesicles help to prevent the virus from binding to lung cells and lead to its eventual destruction by the immune system. The nanodecoys are derived from lung spheroid cells and contain...
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IMAGE: A TEAM LED BY MIT RESEARCHERS HAS SYSTEMATICALLY ANALYZED HOW VARYING THE SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY FOUND ON SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS INFLUENCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS SCARRING, INFLAMMATION, AND A RARE TYPE OF LYMPHOMA. CREDIT: FELICE FRANKEL CAMBRIDGE, MA — Every year, about 400,000 people receive silicone breast implants...
by Annie Curtis, The Conversation Our body clock has evolved over millions of years to help us survive. Credit: kanyanat wongsa/ Shutterstock When microorganisms—such as bacteria or viruses—infect us, our immune system jumps into action. It’s highly trained to sense and eliminate infections and clear up any damage caused by them. It’s typically assumed our immune systems...
by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Credit: CC0 Public Domain Despite a name straight from a Tarantino movie, natural killer (NK) cells are your allies when it comes to fighting infections and cancer. If T cells are like a team of specialist doctors in an emergency room, NK cells are the paramedics: They arrive first on...
by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress Artistic rendering of the surface of a human dendritic cell illustrating sheet-like processes that fold back onto the membrane surface. Credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH) When pathogens invade or tumor cells emerge, the immune system is alerted by danger signals that summon a key battalion of first responders,...
by Allison Hydzik, University of Pittsburgh 3D rendering of a B cell. Credit: Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). The immune system’s B cells have the unique distinction of being the only cells in the human body that evolve, in real time—and an international team of scientists announced...
A groundbreaking study led by engineering and medical researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities shows how engineered immune cells used in new cancer therapies can overcome physical barriers to allow a patient’s own immune system to fight tumors. The research could improve cancer therapies in the future for millions of people worldwide. The research is published...
by The Mount Sinai Hospital Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Artificial food colorants can cause disease when the immune system has become dysregulated, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers report. The study, published in Cell Metabolism in May, was the first to show this phenomenon. The study, conducted in mice, found that the mice developed colitis when they consumed...
by Tiare Dunlap, University of California, Los Angeles Six of the children who received treatment at UCLA through the gene therapy clinical trials. Credit: UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center An experimental form of gene therapy developed by a team of researchers from UCLA and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has successfully treated 48 of 50 children born with...
by University of California – San Diego Human enzyme METTL3 adds methyl groups to introduce m6A in SARS-CoV-2’s RNA. That modification prevents the virus’ RNA from triggering inflammatory molecules known as cytokines. METTL3 also leads to increased expression of pro-viral genes — those that encode proteins needed for SARS-CoV-2 replication and survival. Credit: University of California...
