Autoimmune Disease News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

Study finds gender difference in immune responses to PTSD

Men and women had starkly different immune system responses to chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, with men showing no response and women showing a strong response, in two studies by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

27 Apr 2011

Researchers discover molecular mechanisms behind autoimmunity

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that human proteins with an affinity for Dermatan Sulfate have the propensity to become autoantigens. In a companion article, the researchers also found that DS physically interacts with dead cells and that the resulting DS-autoantigen complexes drive autoreactive B-1a cell responses and autoantibody production both in-vitro and in mouse models.

26 Apr 2011

Signaling pathway reveals mechanism for B cell differentiation in immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells. The finding establishes a role for the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in B cell differentiation, a key step toward the development of B cell-targeted drugs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and allergies.

25 Apr 2011

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Nano Terra announce worldwide licensing agreement

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Nano Terra, Inc., today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Kadmon has been granted a perpetual, worldwide exclusive license to three novel, clinical-stage product candidates owned by Nano Terra as well as rights to Nano Terra’s drug discovery platform, Pharmacomer™ Technology. The product candidates and technology platform will be transferred to a newly formed joint venture, NT Life Sciences (“NT Life”), co-owned by Kadmon and Nano Terra, which will act as the licensor and recipient of any licensing or royalty fees subject to the agreement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

25 Apr 2011

Valuable insight into immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells.

22 Apr 2011

Research sheds new light on pathogenesis of diabetes

New research identifies a distinctive population of immune cells that may play a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.

22 Apr 2011

LMP1 viral protein needs TRAF6 cellular protein to promote B cell activation signaling pathways: Study

By identifying a surprising association of two intracellular proteins, University of Iowa researchers have laid the groundwork for the development of new therapies to treat B cell lymphomas and autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2011

Chronic inflammation due to infection may lead to cancer

A new study shows how inflammation can help cause cancer. Chronic inflammation due to infection or to conditions such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease is associated with up to 25 percent of all cancers.

20 Apr 2011

Breakdown products of thalidomide cause birth defects: New study

Thalidomide may have been withdrawn in the early 1960s for use by pregnant women, but its dramatic effects remain memorable half a century later. Now, researchers have taken a major step toward understanding exactly how thalidomide causes the birth defects.

20 Apr 2011

FDA approves Rituxan-corticosteroid combination for Wegener's Granulomatosis and Microscopic Polyangiitis

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group and Biogen Idec announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rituxan® (rituximab), in combination with corticosteroids, as a new medicine for adults with Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG) and Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA).

20 Apr 2011

Seattle enters second ADC research collaboration agreement with Genmab

Genmab A/S and Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that the companies have entered into a second antibody-drug conjugate research collaboration agreement.

19 Apr 2011

Abbott submits ARCHITECT 25-OH Vitamin D assay application to FDA for clearance

According to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of Americans have vitamin D levels that are either inadequate or deficient. While many people know that vitamin D is necessary to help the body absorb calcium, which helps create strong bones and muscles, many don't know that insufficient levels of this important vitamin may lead to other health problems.

16 Apr 2011

Top-line results from Pfizer's tofacitinib Phase 3 study in rheumatoid arthritis

Pfizer Inc. announced today top-line results from the ORAL Scan Phase 3 study of tofacitinib, formerly known as tasocitinib, an investigational, novel, oral JAK inhibitor.

15 Apr 2011

Researchers classify chronic ulcerative stomatitis as a new autoimmune disease

In the first study investigating the origins of a little-known condition called chronic ulcerative stomatitis, researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine provide evidence that an autoimmune response contributes to the painful oral sores that characterize the disease. The study findings support the classification of CUS as a new autoimmune disease.

15 Apr 2011

SQI enters clinical validation agreement with University North Carolina Kidney Center for Vasculitis Assay

SQI Diagnostics Inc., a medical systems automation company focused on evolving laboratory-based autoimmune biomarker testing, today announced it entered into a clinical validation agreement with University North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, to evaluate SQI's new multiplexed, automated approach for biomarker detection in vasculitis.

15 Apr 2011

Early uMSC transplantation may treat lupus nephritis

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mensenchymal stem cells have been found to offer benefits for treating lupus nephritis when transplanted into mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus.

12 Apr 2011

Gilenya can reduce risk of disability progression in patients with RRMS

A new analysis demonstrated that Gilenya reduced the risk of disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, regardless of treatment history. This analysis of the phase III two-year FREEDOMS study is one of 11 abstracts on Gilenya being presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Apr 2011

Seattle Genetics presents SGN-35 study data in Hodgkin lymphoma at EBMT meeting

Seattle Genetics, Inc. today announced that data from a case series of Hodgkin lymphoma patients receiving brentuximab vedotin following allogeneic stem cell transplant were presented in an oral session at the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Annual Meeting in Paris, France.

7 Apr 2011

ALR announces medical research grant awards to cure lupus

The Alliance for Lupus Research – the world's largest private funder of lupus research – today announced its most recent medical research grant awards, totaling $3.6 million, which support the ALR mission of finding better treatments and ultimately preventing and curing systemic lupus erythematosus, a debilitating autoimmune disease.

7 Apr 2011

Avila announces successful completion of AVL-292 Phase 1a clinical studies for B-cell cancers

Avila Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel targeted covalent drugs, today announced that it has successfully completed two Phase 1a clinical studies for AVL-292, its orally-available, selective inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk).

6 Apr 2011