GERMAN CANCER RESEARCH CENTER (DEUTSCHES KREBSFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM, DKFZ) A particular type of dendritic cell is responsible for the tissue damage that occurs in non-alcoholic steatohepatits (NASH) in mice and humans. The dendritic cells cause aggressive, proinflammatory behavior in T cells, as now discovered by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in collaboration with colleagues...
Tag: <span>Immune cells</span>
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Scientists show immune cells change behavior unexpectedly to instigate psoriasis lesions
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Millions of people suffer from psoriasis, a chronic, autoimmune disorder that causes scaly patches on the skin and often precedes psoriatic arthritis. While no cure exists, treatments range from topical creams to injected medications that block inflammation. To improve treatment options, scientists need to better understand the dysregulation of the immune system...
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Gene editing expands to new types of immune cells
by Gladstone Institutes Alex Marson (left), Nevan Krogan (right), and their team fine-tuned CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to work on human immune cells called monocytes. Credit: Michael Short/Gladstone Institutes In the decade since the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, researchers have used the technology to delete or change genes in a growing number of cell types. Now,...
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Reawakened immune cells show promise in mice against zombie cells tied to diseases of aging
By Megan Molteni A natural killer cellNIAID Scientists have started to test whether natural killer, or NK, cells can be trained to go after hard-to-cure blood cancers in human patients. But making these sentinels of the innate immune system a potential boon to human health spans might be simpler: Rather than needing to be genetically engineered...
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Genes and immune cells predict immunotherapy success in bladder cancer
by The Mount Sinai Hospital Credit: CC0 Public Domain Sets of genes associated with resistance to immunotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer of the bladder have been identified and validated by researchers at Mount Sinai. In a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, the team uncovered gene signatures representing adaptive immunity and pro-tumorigenic inflammation that were responsible for sensitivity or...
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Immune cells in blood influence the brain during early development of Parkinson’s disease
AARHUS UNIVERSITY Parkinson’s disease has always been considered a brain disorder. However, new research reveals a close link between the disease and certain immune cells in the blood. Researchers from Aarhus University have taken the first step on a path which can lead to new ways of understanding and, in the long term, possibly treating this widespread disease...
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Capturing immune cells that colonise the brain to prevent disease progression in multiple sclerosis
Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Hamburg have discovered a disease-causing population of immune cells, which travel to the brain in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Using an approved treatment, which blocks transit through the blood brain barrier, they demonstrate how to trap these cells in the blood, revealing a unique opportunity...
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New insights on how immune cells are recruited and reprogrammed to drive tumor development
by Karolinska Institutet Low levels of TAp73 correlate with an inflammatory signature and increased activity of the NF-κB pathway in breast cancer. (A) A flowchart of TCGA breast cancer data set analysis. (B) A heatmap based on differential gene set analysis comparing TAp73 low versus TAp73 high expressing samples (FC[Log2]>1, FDR > 0.05). (C) A volcano...
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Turbocharging the killing power of immune cells against cancer
UNIVERSITY HEALTH NETWORK IMAGE: PRINCESS MARGARET SENIOR SCIENTIST DR. DANIEL DE CARVALHO AND TEAM TRANSFORMED IMMUNE KILLER T-CELLS INTO “SUPER SOLDIERS ” BY BOOSTING THEIR ABILITY TO KILL CANCER CELLS. CREDIT: UHN STRIDE TEAM Creating “super soldiers” of specific white blood cells to boost an anti-tumour response has been shown in a series of elegant...
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To improve immunotherapy, researchers look to shift immune cells’ access to sugar
by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Credit: CC0 Public Domain Cancer cells and immune cells share something in common: They both love sugar. Sugar is an important nutrient. All cells use sugar as a vital source of energy and building blocks. For immune cells, gobbling up sugar is a good thing, since it means getting enough nutrients to grow...