Scientists have identified a new internal regulator that helps control the body’s response to fight infection. The discovery could be a target for new drugs to tackle autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and scleroderma, where healthy tissues are attacked by the body’s own immune system. The international collaboration was led by the University of Leeds and University of Pennsylvania and involved researchers from...
Tag: <span>Immunology</span>
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Newly discovered immune cell linked to type 1 diabetes
Rogue defender’ mistakenly spurs attacks on insulin-producing cells in pancreas JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE In a discovery that might be likened to finding medicine’s version of the Loch Ness monster, a research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine, IBM Research and four collaborating institutions is the first to document the existence of long-doubted “X cell,” a “rogue hybrid” immune system cell that...
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A question of time
by University of Freiburg A team led by the Freiburg biologists Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel and Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber conducted an experiment in which they controlled the duration of the interaction of a specific protein with T cells, a type of white blood cells, thereby showing how the immune system differentiates between self and non-self molecules. The scientists published their results in the journal eLife. The function of the immune system is to distinguish between the body’s own cells...
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Immunotherapy combination effective for patients with rare neuroendocrine cancer
A combination of two common immunotherapy drugs shrinks rare, aggressive neuroendocrine tumors, according to new research results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019, held March 29-April 3 in Atlanta. Results from the SWOG Cancer Research Network trial known as DART, short for Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors, show a significant clinical benefit for patients with high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma, a cancer of the neuroendocrine cells that often forms tumors...
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A more accurate method to diagnose cancer subtypes
GARVAN INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH Developed by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, this potential diagnostic method screens a cancer sample for ‘fusion genes’, estimated to be linked to one in five cancers, and may provide a more accurate snapshot of rearranged DNA found in cancer. The test could help connect cancer patients with personalised treatments...
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Self-sterilizing microneedles revolutionizing vaccination and drug delivery
Vaccinations are the world’s frontline defence against infectious diseases yet despite decades of interventions, unsafe injection practices continue to expose billions of people to serious infection and disease. Now, new technology from the University of South Australia is revolutionising safe vaccination practices through antibacterial, silver-loaded dissolvable microneedle patches, which not only sterilise the injection site to inhibit the growth of bacteria,...
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Likelihood of tick bite to cause red meat allergy could be higher than previously thought
Until now it has been believed that in order for a tick to trigger an allergic immune response to alpha-gal in humans, the tick would need to have recently fed on the alpha-gal-rich blood of a mammal. New research from the UNC School of Medicine presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) annual conference in San...
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World’s first skin atlas to see the light of day
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have compiled an atlas of the protein composition of the human skin. It will be released today at a scientific symposium held in connection with the inauguration of the university’s new skin research center. The atlas is based on supercomputer analyses and provides invaluable knowledge of psoriasis, eczema, allergies...
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Using anti-cancer immunotherapy to fight HIV
Researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) have shown that immunotherapy treatments against cancer could reduce the amount of virus that persists in people on triple therapy. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, they show, in the cells of people living with HIV, how these therapies reveal the virus—until...
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Mouse study suggests vaccine strategy for immunocompromised patients
A study led by Som Nanjappa at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine identifies a cellular target that may improve efficacy in vaccines designed to protect immunocompromised individuals from potentially deadly opportunistic infections. The study, conducted in a mouse model and recently published in the Journal of Immunology, shows that a protein important...