Immune System News and Research

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Researchers discover two-way communication and stimulation between blood stem cells and T cells

When a transplant patient suffers complications such as graft rejection or graft-versus-host disease, physicians attempt to stop the body's immune response by targeting a patient's T cells.

13 Jul 2006

NIAID program aims to model immune responses and key infectious diseases

A new program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) aims to better understand the complex biochemical networks that regulate the interactions between infectious organisms and the human or animal cells they infect.

12 Jul 2006

Bones rendered more vulnerable following radiation therapy

Researchers have found that mice who were given one therapeutic dose of radiation equal to that received by human cancer patients, lost as much as 39 percent of the spongy portion of their inner bone.

12 Jul 2006

Women who harbor multiple HPV type infections are at higher risk for cervical lesions

The risk for developing the tissue abnormalities, or lesions, that typically precede cervical cancer is much higher for women infected with multiple genotypes of the human papillomavirus (HPV) than previously reported.

10 Jul 2006

Natural mechanism protecting tissue allografts from rejection

A molecule expressed during pregnancy seems to turn down the immune system, making it more tolerant of welcome visitors such as a fetus or maybe a transplanted heart, researchers say.

10 Jul 2006

Functionalized carbon nanotubes are non-cytotoxic and preserve the functionality of primary immune cells

Various types of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as buckyballs and nanotubes, have shown promise as drug delivery tools and imaging agents, but reports of toxicity associated with some of these materials have raised questions about their ultimate utility in clinical oncology.

10 Jul 2006

Brits to trial bird flu vaccine on humans

The British drug company PowderMed has applied for permission to conduct the first trial in Britain of a vaccine against the avian flu virus.

10 Jul 2006

Celiac success: New enzyme efficiently degrades gluten

A new enzyme originally developed for commercial food processing turns out to also quickly and nearly-completely break down whole gluten molecules as well as the T cell stimulatory peptides that cause celiac disease, a digestive disease with no current effective treatment other than avoiding wheat, barley or rye products.

5 Jul 2006

Dog DNA provides clues to combating diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis in humans

Melbourne researchers are examining the DNA of dogs in a research project aiming at determining the genetic causes of common pet diseases - and to provide a model for combating diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis in humans.

5 Jul 2006

Scientists find a cytokine against auto-immune hepatitis

There are about 400 million patients of hepatitis in the world. Some of them are suffering from autoimmune hepatitis, a disease in which the body's immune system attacks liver cells.

5 Jul 2006

World's first face transplant hailed as a complete success

According to the French surgeons who carried out the world's first face transplant, six months down the line the operation is regarded as a complete success.

4 Jul 2006

Researchers develop T-cells from human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells can be genetically manipulated and coaxed to develop into mature T-cells, raising hopes for a gene therapy to combat AIDS.

3 Jul 2006

Listeriosis and pregnancy

For years, doctors have puzzled over why pregnant women are 20 times more likely than others to be infected by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, now think they have the answer, and it isn't pretty.

3 Jul 2006