Immune System News and Research

RSS

New advances in diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases

Researchers are presenting more than 450 abstracts on investigational findings in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases at the ACAAI Annual Meeting in Seattle, Nov. 6-11. Following are highlights of some key studies in allergy-immunology.

11 Nov 2008

Protein called TIM-3 turns off HIV-fighting T cells

In HIV-infected patients the body's immune system is unable to fight off the virus.

11 Nov 2008

Epstein-Barr virus linked to inflammatory diseases of the mouth

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's School of Dentistry have found that a significant percentage of dental patients with the inflammatory diseases irreversible pulpitis and apical periodontitis also have the Epstein-Barr virus.

11 Nov 2008

Cells exhausted from fighting HIV infection can be rescued

Researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of California, San Francisco, have revealed new hope for HIV treatment with the discovery of a way to 'rescue' immune cells that are exhausted from fighting off HIV infection.

11 Nov 2008

New analysis of the mechanisms that drive evolution in viruses and bacteria

It sounds like a science fiction movie: A killer contagion threatens the Earth, but scientists save the day with a designer drug that forces the virus to mutate itself out of existence.

11 Nov 2008

Rheumatoid arthritis drugs too slow to stop damage

A study by New Zealand researchers has questioned the current treatment approaches for rheumatoid arthritis and say they may be too slow in controlling the start of the joint damage the disease causes.

10 Nov 2008

T-cell-based strategy for HIV-1 vaccines still viable option

The question of whether or not to continue to pursue the development of T-cell-based HIV-1 vaccines has been a source of controversy following last year's widely publicized failure of the field's most promising candidate, a vaccine developed by Merck known as V520.

10 Nov 2008

Scientists engineer immune cells to act as "bionic assassins" that see through HIV's many disguises

HIV is a master of disguise, able to rapidly change its identity and hide undetected in infected cells.

10 Nov 2008

Scientists engineer T cells to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system

The findings of the study, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications for developing new treatments for HIV, especially for patients with chronic infection who fail to respond to antiretroviral regimens.

10 Nov 2008

Advances in ophthalmology

The 2008 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) and European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE), the largest and most comprehensive ophthalmic educational meeting in the world, is in session November 8 to 11 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta.

10 Nov 2008

Discovery of gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs

Montana State University scientists concerned about lethal mold infections have found a gene that regulates the mold's resistance to drugs.

8 Nov 2008

Calcitriol - active form of vitamin D - may protect us from radiation

Radiological health expert Daniel Hayes, Ph.D., of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suggests that a form of vitamin D could be one of our body's main protections against damage from low levels of radiation.

8 Nov 2008

Visualizing asthma-causing immune cells at work

Immune cells known as eosinophils have a central role in causing asthma.

7 Nov 2008

Researchers discover metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer

UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have discovered a metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer cells that can be used to slow the progress of the deadliest of all cancers.

7 Nov 2008

Novel concept in chronic lymphoid leukemia treatment

Mayo Clinic researchers say they have moved closer to their goal of providing personalized care for a common blood cell cancer.

7 Nov 2008

Gene research sheds light on T-cell production

New research, just published by researchers from the University of Georgia, provides the first evidence that a key gene may be crucial to maintaining the production of the thymus and its disease-fighting T-cells after an animal's birth.

7 Nov 2008

Scientists at MIT create backpacks for cells which deliver chemotherapy agents

MIT engineers have outfitted cells with tiny "backpacks" that could allow them to deliver chemotherapy agents, diagnose tumors or become building blocks for tissue engineering.

7 Nov 2008

Newly discovered protein may help explain tuberculosis' resiliency

Weill Cornell scientists have located a protein produced by the tuberculosis bacterium that may tell researchers more about how the invader lives so resiliently inside of the body.

6 Nov 2008

Proteomics provides clues to how tuberculosis thwarts the immune system

A link between the immune system and the self-cleaning system by which biological cells rid themselves of obsolete or toxic parts may one day yield new weapons in the fight against tuberculosis and other deadly infectious diseases.

6 Nov 2008

H5N1 protein hides in tiny tubules

A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in an online report in the journal Nature.

6 Nov 2008