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,...
Tag: <span>Immune system</span>
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Subset of stem cells identified as source for all cells in blood and immune systems
Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have identified a specific subset of adult blood stem cells that is exclusively responsible for repopulating the entire blood and immune system after a transplant. The discovery, to be published Nov. 1 in Science Translational Medicine, has the potential to revolutionize blood stem cell transplantation as well as the delivery and...
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Researchers release the brakes on the immune system
(from left) These are the researchers analyzing the immunological data. Many tumors possess mechanisms to avoid destruction by the immune system. For instance, they misuse the natural “brakes” in the immune defense mechanism that normally prevent an excessive immune response. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now been able to remove one of...
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Immune system linked to alcohol drinking behaviour
Researchers from the University of Adelaide have found a new link between the brain’s immune system and the desire to drink alcohol in the evening. In laboratory studies using mice, researchers have been able to switch off the impulse to drink alcohol by giving mice a drug that blocks a specific response from the immune system in the...
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Scientists discover the ‘adrenaline’ of the immune system
Innate lymphocytes (in green) surround the gut (in red). Scientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown and the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, in Lisbon, Portugal, have discovered that neurons located at mucosal tissues can immediately detect an infection in the organism, promptly producing a substance that acts as an “adrenaline rush” for immune...
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Immune system can be modulated by targeted manipulation of cell metabolism
In its attempt to fight a serious bacterial infection, caused by listeria, for example, the immune system can become so over-activated that the resulting inflammatory response and its consequences can quickly lead to death. Scientists from the Medical University of Vienna and Max F. Perutz Laboratories of MedUni Vienna and the University of Vienna, supervised...
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Reach for tea, red wine and blueberries to prevent flu taking hold! Scientists reveal they are packed full of one key ingredient to boost the immune system
Flavanoids – found in berries – are known for their immune boosting effects Now it’s been found they interact with a certain gut microbe to prevent severe flu This process did not stop mice from catching the highly contagious infection But it prevented them getting a severe bout of the flu, say Missouri researchers Natural compounds...
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Study reveals how to reprogram cells in our immune system
When the immune system is imbalanced, either due to overly-active cells or cells that suppress its function, it causes a wide range of diseases, from psoriasis to cancer. By manipulating the function of certain immune cells, called T cells, researchers could help restore the system’s balance and create new treatments to target these diseases. Scientists...
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Immune system may mount an attack in Parkinson’s disease
A new study suggests that T cells, which help the body’s immune system recognize friend from foe, may play an important role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study, published in the journal Nature, was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. “This collaboration between...
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Scientists Light the Way for Immune System to Attack Cancer
The science behind harnessing the immune system to fight cancer is complicated, but a University of Rochester Medical Center laboratory discovered a simple, practical way to use light and optics to steer killer immune cells toward tumors. In a study published by the online journal Nature Communications, lead author Minsoo Kim, Ph.D., a UR professor of Microbiology and Immunology and a Wilmot Cancer...