by Karuna Meda, Thomas Jefferson University Credit: Thomas Jefferson University There’s a lot that our eyes have to protect themselves from—dust and debris; viruses and bacteria; chemicals from things we use every day like soaps and lotions; ultraviolet radiation from the sun; and hours of looking at computer screens or devices. Given all these potential...
YALE UNIVERSITY In the past decade, immunotherapy has helped save the lives of many cancer patients, many with lung cancer, who might have otherwise faced almost certain death sentences. However, only about 20% of patients who received immune therapies — designed to enhance or override natural limitations on immune system response — saw sustained benefits...
by The Francis Crick Institute Graphical abstract. Credit: DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.11.006 Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have uncovered biological processes key to regulating immune cells that can cause allergic reactions unless closely controlled. They hope this insight into an understudied aspect of our immune system could help expose what goes wrong when the body develops allergies or...
by Weill Cornell Medical College Single cell RNA-seq analysis of microglial response in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Treatment with experimental drug MK2206 depleted a subcluster of disease-associated microglia (pink) and protected against synaptic loss (not pictured). Each dot depicts one microglial cell. Different colors depict different microglial states. Credit: Dr. Li Gan. A...
by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Credit: Heissmeyer Group Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) immunologists have discovered how mutations in Roquin-1 trigger autoimmunity, but can also improve the body’s fight against cancer cells. With autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus, severe inflammation occurs in different areas of the organism. The immune system mistakenly identifies the body’s own structures as...
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE IMAGE: ELECTRON MICROGRAPH OF A SINGLE SARS-COV-2 PARTICLE WITH ITS SPIKE PROTEINS (BLUE) CLEARLY VISIBLE. THE INSET IS A 3D MODEL OF THE SPIKE PROTEIN — THE PORTION OF THE COVID-19 VIRUS THAT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE MRNA VACCINES RECOGNIZE. A RECENT JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE STUDY SUGGESTS THAT T LYMPHOCYTES — IMMUNE SYSTEM CELLS...
by Julie Cunningham, Massachusetts General Hospital Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Macrophages are key cells of the immune system with many important beneficial functions, but they can also exacerbate many common diseases. Macrophages that are polarized—or activated—into a type called M1 can suppress the growth of blood vessels and tumors. In contrast, M2-type polarized macrophages can exacerbate tumor...
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HEALTH SYSTEM IMAGE: “PRECISE BLOOD VESSEL FUNCTION IS CRITICAL TO ACCOMMODATE THE EXTREME ENERGY DEMANDS OF THE BRAIN FOR NORMAL BRAIN FUNCTION,” SAID UKPONG B. EYO, PH.D., OF UVA’S DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE, THE UVA BRAIN INSTITUTE, AND UVA’S CENTER FOR BRAIN IMMUNOLOGY AND GLIA (BIG). “THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN ROLES FOR...
by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Photograph from a Johns Hopkins Medicine study showing regenerated junctions between peripheral nerves and their muscle fibers in mice. By modifying white blood cells known as macrophages, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers were able to achieve complete recovery from injury to the nerves. Credit: Mithilesh Kumar Jha, Johns Hopkins Medicine Peripheral nerves—the...
IMAGE: A TUMOR-SPECIFIC T CELL ENGAGES WITH A TUMOR CELL. BYSTANDER T CELLS DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THE TUMOR. CREDIT: PNAS DEC. 10, 2002, COPYRIGHT (2002) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, U.S.A. Cancer-fighting immune cells in patients with lung cancer whose tumors do not respond to immunotherapies appear to be running on a different “program” that...
