After spinal cord injury or stroke, axons originating in the brain’s cortex and along the spinal cord become damaged, disrupting motor skills. Now, according to new findings published today in Neuron, a team of scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital has developed a method to promote axon regrowth after injury. The team developed a therapeutic cocktail of...
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Review: cannabis may alleviate neuropathic pain
Shannon M. Nugent, Ph.D., from the VA Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health & Science University, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to examine the benefits of plant-based cannabis preparations for treating chronic pain in adults. The researchers found low-strength evidence that cannabis alleviates neuropathic pain based on 27 chronic pain trials; insufficient evidence was found in other pain populations....
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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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The Ever-Expanding T-Cell World: A Primer
New types of T cells seem to pop up in the scientific literature with increasing frequency. Just this June, for instance, University of Melbourne immunologist Angela Pizzolla and her colleagues described a type of tissue-resident memory T (Trm) cell in the nose that, unlike other Trm cells, can develop from “killer T cells” without antigen exposure or growth-factor stimulation....
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Gold nanostars and immunotherapy vaccinate mice against cancer
By combining an FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy with an emerging tumor-roasting nanotechnology, Duke University researchers improved the efficacy of both therapies in a proof-of-concept study using mice. The potent combination also attacked satellite tumors and distant cancerous cells, completely curing two mice and effectively vaccinating one against the disease. The results appeared online in Scientific Reports on August...
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New Pathology Atlas maps genes in cancer to accelerate progress in personalized medicine
A new Pathology Atlas is launched today with an analysis of all human genes in all major cancers showing the consequence of their corresponding protein levels for overall patient survival. The difference in expression patterns of individual cancers observed in the study strongly reinforces the need for personalized cancer treatment based on precision medicine. In...
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UMass Amherst Researchers Find ‘Switch’ That Turns on Immune Cells’ Tumor-killing Ability
AMHERST, Mass. – Molecular biologists led by Leonid Pobezinsky and his wife and research collaborator Elena Pobezinskaya at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have published results that for the first time show how a microRNA molecule known as Lethal-7 (let-7) serves as a molecular control hub to direct the function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes by...
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Peroxisomes identified as ‘fighters’ in the battle against bacterial infections
A new addition to the fight against bacteria comes in the unlikely form of an organelle that previously had no link to the immune response. University of Alberta researchers have found that peroxisomes are required for cells in the innate immune response to bacteria and fungi. The discovery was first made in fruit flies. Research...
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What’s to know about skin cancer and rashes?
A rash on the skin is often caused by an allergy or reaction to an outside source. A cancer-related skin rash is caused by a cancerous or precancerous condition that produces abnormal changes in the skin. Some growths and rashes can indicate cancer or cancer-related problems. In some cases, the symptoms on the skin are signs of...
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Does a fever always mean you have an infection?
Our fear of fevers made us terrified of even a slight increase in body temperature. The shivers, the shakes, the chills—we’ve all experienced a fever at one time or another. When we take our temperatures and the thermometer reads anything above 99 degrees, many of us immediately believe we are afflicted with some kind of...