Macrophage News and Research

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A macrophage is a type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells.

Early-stage lung cancer coopts macrophages to help tumors invade lung tissues

Immune cells that normally repair tissues in the body can be fooled by tumors when cancer starts forming in the lungs and instead help the tumor become invasive, according to a surprising discovery reported by Mount Sinai scientists in Nature in June.

16 Jun 2021

Forkhead box O's potential therapeutic use in the treatment of COVID-19

In a recent study, Indian researchers from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi, reviewed a possible vital coalition of FoxOs - the Forkhead Box O subfamily of protein transcription factors, with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the etiological agent of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease).

13 Jun 2021

AI identifies gene signatures to reveal patients’ immune responses to viral infection

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to sift through terabytes of gene expression data -- which genes are "on" or "off" during infection -- to look for shared patterns in patients with past pandemic viral infections, including SARS, MERS and swine flu.

11 Jun 2021

Metformin prevents pulmonary or lung inflammation in animals infected with SARS-CoV-2

Metformin is a widely prescribed blood sugar-lowering drug. It is often used as an early therapy (in combination with diet and lifestyle changes) for type 2 diabetes, which afflicts more than 34 million Americans.

11 Jun 2021

Macrophages can aid tumor growth by distracting cancer-killing CD8+ T cells

A Ludwig Cancer Research study adds to growing evidence that immune cells known as macrophages inhabiting the body cavities that house our vital organs can aid tumor growth by distracting the immune system's cancer-killing CD8+ T cells.

11 Jun 2021

Common antidepressant drugs help the immune system to attack tumors in mice

A class of drug called monoamine oxidase inhibitors is commonly prescribed to treat depression; the medications work by boosting levels of serotonin, the brain's "happiness hormone."

10 Jun 2021

Pathogenic airway neutrophilia drives ARDS in Black patients with severe COVID-19 in case study

Researchers from the US used a systems immunology approach where they combined high-dimensional flow cytometry and multi-omics single-cell sequencing analyses of immune profiles taken from the airways and matching blood samples of Black/AA patients.

9 Jun 2021

Could sustained inflammation following mild to moderate COVID-19 be a driver of long COVID?

A new study describes the discovery of sustained though low-level rises in inflammatory mediators and immune cells, as well as the loss of some subsets of naïve un-activated cells. This may indicate a widespread though muted immune-mediated inflammatory response in these patients.

7 Jun 2021

Researchers create cellular and spatial “atlas” of the choroid plexus during different life stages

Once viewed merely as a producer of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bathing the brain and spinal cord, the choroid plexus is now known to be a key player in brain development and immunity.

7 Jun 2021

Metformin potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine release in monocytes

An interesting new bioRxiv* preprint reports the suppression of monocyte glycolysis and cytokine production when exposed to the virus, following pretreatment with the commonly used drug, metformin.

6 Jun 2021

Antibody treatment reactivates the immune defense in patients with advanced-stage cancer

Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, showed that the antibody treatment reactivates the immune defense in patients with advanced-stage cancer.

3 Jun 2021

Researchers are closer to unraveling the mystery of science behind regeneration

Many salamanders can readily regenerate a lost limb, but adult mammals, including humans, cannot. Why this is the case is a scientific mystery that has fascinated observers of the natural world for thousands of years.

3 Jun 2021

Newly developed spheroidal structure reproduces the microenvironment of tumors

Every tumor is different, every patient is different. So how do we know which treatment will work best for the patient and eradicate the cancer? In order to offer a personalised treatment that best suits the case being treated, a team of scientists led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, had already developed a spheroidal reproduction of tumors that integrates the tumor cells, but also their microenvironment.

3 Jun 2021

Study reveals how HIV prevents the maturation of myelin-making brain cells

It's long been known that people living with HIV experience a loss of white matter in their brains. As opposed to "gray matter," which is composed of the cell bodies of neurons, white matter is made up of a fatty substance called myelin that coats neurons, offering protection and helping them transmit signals quickly and efficiently.

2 Jun 2021

New insight into how platelets help resolve bacterial lung inflammation

Treating patients with acute respiratory failure is a constant challenge in intensive care medicine. In most cases, the underlying cause is lung inflammation triggered by a bacterial infection or - more rarely, despite being frequently observed at present due to the corona pandemic - a viral infection.

2 Jun 2021

Study uncovers mechanisms by which microRNAs drive atherogenesis in a cell-type-specific manner

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have uncovered potential mechanisms by which microRNAs (miRNA) drive atherogenesis in a cell-type-specific manner.

2 Jun 2021

Depleting SIRPα-deficient in macrophages activate tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells

In a study that will be published in Nature Communications on May 28, 2021, a research team led by Dr. Yuan Liu from Georgia State University reports that intratumoral SIRPα-deficient macrophages activate tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells to eliminate various syngeneic cancers under radiotherapy.

2 Jun 2021

Function and regeneration of dendritic cells impaired in COVID-19

A group of researchers from Germany has investigated and analyzed circulating dendritic cells and monocyte subsets in 65 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with mild to severe presentations of the infection. A variety of patients were included in their study, from those who exhibited minor signs of acute disease to convalescents, as well as healthy controls

31 May 2021

SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 induces potent inflammation via NF-κB pathways, finds study

SARS-CoV-2 has a single-stranded RNA genome encoding both structural and non-structural proteins. Of these, the latter is known to play a variety of roles in viral replication and the assembly of new viral particles, as well as in suppressing cellular immune responses. A new study reports the activity of one such protein, the non-structural protein 14 (NSP14), which activates the inflammatory mediator NF-κB to trigger intense inflammation.

31 May 2021

Neuropathology of COVID-19 patients caused by infection of brain pericytes

Recently, researchers from the UK and Sweden used highly sensitive multiplexed immunohistochemistry to study the brain tissue of COVID-19 patients and controls to analyze ACE2 expression in brain pericytes of patients with neurological symptoms. They also used spatial immunophenotyping to assess inflammation in brain tissue of COVID-19 patients.

31 May 2021

Macrophage News and Research

Further Reading

Early-stage lung cancer coopts macrophages to help tumors invade lung tissues

Forkhead box O's potential therapeutic use in the treatment of COVID-19

AI identifies gene signatures to reveal patients’ immune responses to viral infection

Metformin prevents pulmonary or lung inflammation in animals infected with SARS-CoV-2

Macrophages can aid tumor growth by distracting cancer-killing CD8+ T cells

Common antidepressant drugs help the immune system to attack tumors in mice

Pathogenic airway neutrophilia drives ARDS in Black patients with severe COVID-19 in case study

Could sustained inflammation following mild to moderate COVID-19 be a driver of long COVID?

Researchers create cellular and spatial “atlas” of the choroid plexus during different life stages

Metformin potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine release in monocytes

Antibody treatment reactivates the immune defense in patients with advanced-stage cancer

Researchers are closer to unraveling the mystery of science behind regeneration

Newly developed spheroidal structure reproduces the microenvironment of tumors

Study reveals how HIV prevents the maturation of myelin-making brain cells

New insight into how platelets help resolve bacterial lung inflammation

Study uncovers mechanisms by which microRNAs drive atherogenesis in a cell-type-specific manner

Depleting SIRPα-deficient in macrophages activate tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells

Function and regeneration of dendritic cells impaired in COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 induces potent inflammation via NF-κB pathways, finds study

Neuropathology of COVID-19 patients caused by infection of brain pericytes

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