Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus News and Research

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New insight may allow researchers to design drugs that improve immune responses to vaccines

Memory T cells are a critical element of our immune system's historical archive. To prevent repeat infections, these cells retain a record of germs they've fought before.

19 Apr 2018

Swiss scientists create artificial viruses to combat cancer cells

Swiss scientists from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and the University of Basel have created artificial viruses that can be used to target cancer.

26 May 2017

Experimental treatment tempers HLH, MS symptoms in mouse models, study shows

Immune diseases like multiple sclerosis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis unleash destructive waves of inflammation on the body, causing death or a lifetime of illness and physical impairment.

23 May 2017

Research findings could lead to development of novel therapeutic approaches against viral infections

Life is a question of balance, and the body is no exception. Expression levels of certain proteins can affect the immune system's ability to neutralize a virus.

12 Jan 2017

Suppressed vaginal immune response makes women more susceptible to RNA viruses

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes discovered that the vaginal immune system is suppressed in response to RNA viruses, such as Zika.

16 Nov 2016

TSRI researchers uncover mechanism behind T cell exhaustion

In a new study with broad implications for treating cancers and chronic viral infections, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have uncovered a mechanism behind a phenomenon called “T cell exhaustion.”

2 Nov 2016

Metabolic-checkpoint inhibitor combination approach may improve cancer therapies

Reprogramming of the molecular pathways underlying normal metabolism is essential for T cell infection-fighting function and for the immune system to form a "memory" of the microbes it has already encountered. But exactly how metabolism in exhausted T cells is maintained in chronic infections and cancer is a missing element in this line of research.

3 Aug 2016

SBP scientists discover new regulator of immune responses

Research led by scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has identified a new regulator of immune responses. The study, published recently in Immunity, sheds new light on why T cells fail to clear chronic infections and eliminate tumors.

26 May 2016

TSRI study reveals important traits in LCMV, Lassa virus

For the first time, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have solved the structure of the biological machinery used by a common virus to recognize and attack human host cells.

27 Apr 2016

Penn Medicine researchers explore primary player involved in T cell exhaustion

Sometimes even cells get tired. When the T cells of your immune system are forced to deal over time with cancer or a chronic infection such as HIV or hepatitis C, they can develop 'T cell exhaustion,' becoming less effective and losing their ability to attack and destroy the invaders of the body.

4 Jun 2015

Interferon Type I immune proteins key drivers of human hemorrhagic fevers

Hemorrhagic fevers caused by Lassa, dengue and other viruses affect more than one million people annually and are often fatal, yet scientists have never understood why only some virus-infected people come down with the disease and others do not.

5 Jun 2014

Findings highlight importance of IL-21 in the development of antiviral vaccines

Scientists at Emory Vaccine Center have shown that an immune regulatory molecule called IL-21 is needed for long-lasting antibody responses in mice against viral infections.

24 May 2013

Drug molecules designed for influenza may be adapted to treat other viruses

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows how compounds blocking an enzyme universal to all influenza viruses may allow development of new antiviral drugs that also avoid the problem of drug resistance

3 Aug 2012

Single protein determines persistence of viral infection

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have shown a single protein can make the difference between an infection clearing out of the body or persisting for life. The results also show where the defects occur in the immune system without the protein and offer the possibility that targeting this signaling pathway could be beneficial for treatment of persistent viral infections in humans.

14 Jun 2012

Researchers identify primary player of the biochemical bugle call

Researchers have identified the primary player of the biochemical bugle call that musters the body's defenders against viral infection.

14 Jun 2012

MDA5 molecule plays a critical role in fighting viral infections

Researchers have identified the primary player of the biochemical bugle call that musters the body's defenders against viral infection.

14 Jun 2012

ONPRC researchers discover new method to create safe and effective vaccines

While vaccines are perhaps medicine's most important success story, there is always room for improvement. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) appear to have done just that.

30 May 2012

Fresh cells can pep talk immune cells exhausted by HIV or hepatitis C

Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion.

14 Dec 2011

Scientists determine atomic structure of Lassa fever viral protein

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the atomic structure of a protein that the Lassa fever virus uses to make copies of itself within infected cells.

15 Nov 2011

Findings could guide in developing more effective vaccines for HIV/AIDS and cancer

In an acute viral infection, most of the white blood cells known as T cells differentiate into cells that fight the virus and die off in the process. But a few of these "effector" T cells survive and become memory T cells, ensuring that the immune system can respond faster and stronger the next time around.

29 Jan 2010