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Harnessing the brain's immune system to combat Alzheimer's disease

A new study appearing in the Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that the brain's immune system could potentially be harnessed to help clear the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

5 Nov 2015

Rotation model provides explanation of ligand activation mechanism of dimeric receptors

"This 'rotation model', which made the cover of BioEssays, represents a true paradigm shift in the membrane receptor field," stated Prof. Pierre De Meyts, a renowned researcher of insulin and receptor binding for almost half a century and one of the reviewers of the paper by Prof. Ichiro Maruyama, the head of the Information Processing Biology Unit at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University.

31 Oct 2015

Scientists one step closer to developing new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease

For patients with inflammatory bowel disease, the possibility of taking a single pill to bring long-lasting relief might seem too good to be true. Scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University are on the brink of making that happen, thanks to a recent proof-of-concept study, in which the severity of a form of inflammatory bowel disease in mice was dramatically reduced with one oral dose of a protein isolated from a bacterial biofilm.

30 Oct 2015

Pre-clinical study demonstrates positive effects of advanced prebiotic on neuro-inflammation, anxiety

Clasado Biosciences Limited, the producers and suppliers of the second generation prebiotic Bimuno(R) (B-GOS), a unique trans-galactooligosaccharide, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, today announce the results of their latest pre-clinical study demonstrating a major role of the unique carbohydrate complex Bimuno against neuro-inflammation and anxiety.

28 Oct 2015

Virginia Tech researchers study how specific cytokine influences gene expression patterns in T helper cells

Environment can make all the difference in behavior - even at the cellular level. Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have discovered even a small shift in environmental factors can change how a cell in the immune system matures.

28 Oct 2015

New Rice University study explores connections between fatal bereavement and cardiovascular risk

Medical professionals know that when a spouse dies, the surviving partner is at increased risk of suffering early mortality - but they don't entirely understand why. A new Rice University professor has received a $3.765 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to embark on a five-year study of the connection between psychological and physiological responses to such extraordinary stress.

27 Oct 2015

Breakthrough research suggests that female sex hormone may save lives on the battlefield

Breakthrough research suggests a female sex hormone may be the key to saving lives on the battlefield, where between 2001 and 2011 more than 80 percent of potentially preventable U.S. war injury deaths resulted from blood loss.

22 Oct 2015

Discovery may lead to new anti-metastasis therapies for advanced-stage brain cancer patients

It's no surprise that people enjoy warm places like Hawaii but may suffer in hostile locales such as Antarctica. A tumor suppressor gene called PTEN is similar in that it is affected by the microenvironments of certain bodily organs to which it travels.

20 Oct 2015

enGene, Janssen Biotech sign agreement to develop and commercialize new IBD therapies

enGene, Inc. a gene therapy company focused on development of therapeutics using its proprietary "Gene Pill" and enema gene delivery platform, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

14 Oct 2015

Glycan binding proteins modify parasite infection in cells of the heart muscle

Chagas disease is the main cause of infectious heart disease in Latin America. Researchers from the INGEBI and IBYME Institutes in Argentina explored the effect of glycan binding protein interactions between the human host and Typanosoma cruzi parasite. They found that a glycan binding protein expressed in humans modified the infection in cells of the heart muscle, showing the importance of galectins in the response to parasite infection.

12 Oct 2015

Immune-molecule-based mop-up therapy reduces specific type of breast tumor in mice

Disabling a cancer-causing pathway and administering an immune-molecule-based mop-up therapy eradicated a specific type of breast tumor in mice, according to researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

8 Oct 2015

Immune system protein has potential to prevent onset of aggressive form of rheumatoid arthritis

Scientists have discovered what they believe has the potential to prevent the onset of an aggressive and hard-to-treat form of rheumatoid arthritis - a condition that affects 700,000 adults in the UK.

7 Oct 2015

Teva presents new Reslizumab data at European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2015

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., has presented results from a post hoc analysis of two pivotal Phase III clinical trials showing that treatment with reslizumab reduced clinical asthma exacerbations (CAEs) by 75 percent versus placebo in a subgroup of patients with late onset asthma (diagnosed at 40 years of age and older) with elevated blood eosinophils, who were inadequately controlled on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).

28 Sep 2015

Inflammatory response could be key link between dietary fats and obesity-related diseases

An enhanced inflammatory response could be the key link between high saturated fat intake - a recognized risk factor for obesity-related disorders - and the development of diseases like type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.

26 Sep 2015

UCSF researchers develop molecular 'on switch' that allows control over the actions of T cells

UC San Francisco researchers have engineered a molecular "on switch" that allows tight control over the actions of T cells, immune system cells that have shown great potential as therapies for cancer. The innovation lays the groundwork for sharply reducing severe, sometimes deadly side effects that have been a significant hurdle to advancing T cell-based treatments.

25 Sep 2015

Radboud university medical center reveals how BCG vaccine works against tuberculosis

Not only the acquired immune system but also the innate immune system has a memory. And the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis can stimulate this memory. After a BCG vaccination the innate immune system responds better to a wide range of other infections. Mihai Netea and colleagues from Radboud university medical center discovered and described how that works. They think that the old vaccine could be useful for specific target groups, such as the elderly.

23 Sep 2015

Researchers link molecular dots between periodontitis and heart disease

Periodontitis is a risk factor for heart disease. Now a team of researchers has shown that a periodontal pathogen causes changes in gene expression that boost inflammation and atherosclerosis in aortic smooth muscle cells. The research is published ahead of print in Infection and Immunity, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

14 Sep 2015

Cells expressing faulty CFTR channel to TNF-α can 'fix' cystic fibrosis cells

Scientific experiments examining what happens to the faulty channel protein that causes cystic fibrosis during inflammation have yielded unexpected and exciting results. The study, conducted by Sara Bitam and her colleagues at INSERM in France, has just passed peer review on open science publishing platform F1000Research.

3 Sep 2015

Immatics US launched to develop adoptive cellular therapies for treatment of various tumors

Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced today the launch of Immatics US, Inc., a new company aiming at becoming a global leader in adoptive cellular therapies (ACT) for the treatment of a range of tumor types.

26 Aug 2015

Study of genetic risk factors of IBD in African-Americans published in Gastroenterology journal

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Emory University and Cedars-Sinai, have published in the journal Gastroenterology the first major, in-depth analysis of genetic risk factors of inflammatory bowel disease in African-Americans.