When trauma spills the contents of our cell powerhouses, it can evoke a potentially deadly immune response much like a severe bacterial infection. Photo of Drs. Keith O’Malley, Patricia Martinez Quinones and Camilla Ferreira Wenceslau. Credit: Phil Jones, Senior Photographer, Augusta University A drug that cleaves escaped proteins called N-formyl peptides appears to reduce resulting...
Tag: <span>immune</span>
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Restricting unwanted immune reactions
Researchers at the University of Münster (Germany) have decoded a mechanism found at the beginning of many inflammatory processes: a new approach to the development of anti-inflammatory treatment options IMAGE: BINDING MODEL: THE S100A8/S100A9 PROTEIN COMPLEX (GREY/BEIGE) BINDS TO THE TLR4 RECEPTOR (RAINBOW-COLOURED) AND MD2 (RED) AND TRIGGERS IMMUNE REACTIONS IN CELLS. BLOCKING THIS INTERACTION IS A...
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Restricting unwanted immune reactions
The immune system often initiates its response to pathogens by activating immune cells, so-called phagocytes, which migrate to sites of inflammation. There, the phagocytes release certain proteins, including the S100A8/S100A9 heterodimeric protein complex, which triggers or amplifies the inflammatory reaction at the site of the disease. However, if too many of these complexes are released,...
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Nucleoside logic: Supply-side programming of the immune biocomputer
The immune system is host to a bewildering array of cell types. Traditionally, immunologists have classified cells in different states of activation according to the various interleukins, interferons and other cytokines they express or secrete. Unfortunately, this ever-sprawling matrix of cell markers has become a matrix of exceptions that is rapidly collapsing under its own...
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New strategy to cure chronic hepatitis B infection
Scientists from Karolinska Institutet and Hannover Medical School have published two studies that provide insights into how the immune system responds and helps to clear a hepatitis B infection after treatment interruption. The findings offer a framework for future tailored treatment strategies and are published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Journal of Hepatology. Chronic hepatitis B...
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Psoriasis treated with compound derived from immune cells
A compound derived from immune cells treats psoriasis in mice and holds promise for other autoimmune diseases, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The compound suppresses an inflammatory pathway that is overactive in many autoimmune diseases, suggesting that it may be effective against multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and...
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Scientists discover sweet spot of activity in immune system key to fighting cancer
Concentrated CD40 receptions (grey wavy lines) on the immune cell surface. Credit: University of Southampton Scientists at the University of Southampton have shown how stimulating a specific location on the surface of immune cells can be targeted with antibodies to help in their fight against cancer. The new work concerns a receptor called CD40 found...
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Immune-engineered device targets chemo-resistant lymphoma
ITHACA, N.Y. – Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cancer that is diagnosed in the U.S. more than 70,000 times annually, arises from overly proliferating immune cells within the body’s lymph nodes, which are connected to a network of lymph vessels through which lymphatic fluid flows. The most common type of lymphoma is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), accounting...
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Immune-engineered device targets chemo-resistant lymphoma
Ankur Singh, left, works in his lab with doctoral student Sungwoong Kim. Credit: Dave Burbank/University Photography Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cancer that is diagnosed in the U.S. more than 70,000 times annually, arises from overly proliferating immune cells within the body’s lymph nodes, which are connected to a network of lymph vessels through which lymphatic fluid flows. The...
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Immune system could identify changes in cancer antigen
A new study has identified novel mechanisms where T cells may be able to differentiate an emerging class of targets specifically increased on Cancer cells. Researchers from the University of Virginia and Brimingham have published their study in Oncotarget, focuses on how immune system recognizes protein targets that are modified by phosphorylation- it is known...