By Sally Robertson, B.Sc.;Nov 30 2020 Researchers in the United States have conducted a study demonstrating the potential of a novel therapeutic approach to treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The therapy augments the body’s T cell response to the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by providing a boost of rapidly expanded virus-specific T...
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY Washington, DC – October 9, 2020 – COVID-19 remains stubbornly inconsistent. More than a million people have died and 35 million have been diagnosed, but a large fraction of people infected with the coronavirus–about 45%, according to recent estimates–show no symptoms at all. A retrospective study of 52 COVID-19 patients, published this...
A cellular condition called oxidative stress can kill cancer cells. The finding that skin cancer cells evade such destruction using lipids acquired while passing through lymphatic vessels reveals a mechanism that boosts cancer spread. Barbara M. Grüner & Sarah-Maria Fendt PDF version The spread of cancer to distant parts of the body, such as to...
By Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. By definition, encephalitis is the inflammation of the brain. The causes of infectious encephalitis can be viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal, or helminthic; however, about 70% of encephalitis cases are viral in etiology. Types of encephalitis Encephalitis can be characterized as either primary or secondary. Whereas primary...
by Scott Schrage, University of Nebraska-Lincoln A rendering of B lymphocytes, the white blood cells responsible for producing antibodies to fight infections. Recent research led by Nebraska virologists has found that an overabundance of B lymphocytes infected with the Epstein-Barr virus contributed to the recurrence of multiple sclerosis-like symptoms in mice. Credit: Shutterstock A recent...
MAX DELBRÜCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE IN THE HELMHOLTZ ASSOCIATION THE PROTEIN PDAP1 (RED) IS LOCATED IN THE CYTOPLASM OF B CELLS. view more CREDIT: DI VIRGILIO, MDC Whenever a germ gets into the human body, the immune system usually responds immediately to fight off the enemy attacker. One of our defense system’s most important...
by Johannes Angerer, Medical University of Vienna A MedUni Vienna study group has identified a previously unknown mechanism involved in the development of intestinal cancer: The bacterial microbiome activates the so-called immune checkpoint Ido1 in Paneth cells, a special cell that is only found in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby preventing local intestinal inflammation. However, this...
by Frontiers Cytokine storms may affect the severity of COVID-19 cases by lowering T cell counts, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Immunology. Researchers studying coronavirus cases in China found that sick patients had a significantly low number of T cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role...
by University of Montreal Dr. Christopher E. Rudd, a researcher at the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CR-HMR) and Université de Montréal, has discovered a new cell therapy approach that boosts the immune response of T lymphocytes to malignant tumours. The results of the study have just been published in the respected journal Nature...
