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MU researchers use new techniques to fight against diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a retinal microvascular disease that often causes blindness in adults who have had diabetes mellitus for 10 years or more. Estimates are that 600 million people will have some sort of diabetic retinopathy by 2040.

25 Apr 2018

New discovery could be key to stopping damage caused by inflammation in many diseases

A discovery by Queensland scientists could be the key to stopping damage caused by uncontrolled inflammation in a range of common diseases including liver disease, Alzheimer's and gout.

7 Feb 2018

Unhealthy diet makes the body's defenses more aggressive in the long term

The immune system reacts similarly to a high fat and high-calorie diet as to a bacterial infection. This is shown by a recent study led by the University of Bonn.

11 Jan 2018

Immune system plays key role in development of atherosclerosis

The immune system plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of cardiovascular diseases. Thomas van der Heijden has discovered that immunosuppressants may play a preventative role. PhD defense 19 December.

19 Dec 2017

Biologists resolve immune protein structure to provide insight into pathogen-defense strategies

Biologists have resolved the structure of a ring of proteins used by the immune system to summon support when under attack, providing new insight into potential strategies for protection from pathogens.

17 Nov 2017

Research reveals fundamental process used by immune system to recognize invading pathogens

The body's homeland security unit is more thorough than any airport checkpoint. For the first time, scientists have witnessed a mouse immune system protein frisking a snippet of an invading bacterium. The inspection is far more extensive than researchers imagined: the immune system protein, similar to those in humans, scans the bacterial protein in six different ways, ensuring correct identification.

16 Nov 2017

Scientists discover way to treat severe inflammation from mosquito-borne diseases

Scientists have discovered a way that could help treat severe inflammation from an infectious mosquito-borne disease during outbreaks.

29 Aug 2017

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles can intensify inflammatory reaction in patients with colitis

Titanium dioxide, one of the most-produced nanoparticles worldwide, is being used increasingly in foodstuffs.

19 Jul 2017

Researchers discover that microRNA can prevent excessive intestinal inflammation

An international team of researchers has discovered that a microRNA produced by certain white blood cells can prevent excessive inflammation in the intestine.

9 May 2017

Researchers discover promising target for treatment of leishmaniasis

Each year, about 2 million people contract leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of a sand fly. The cutaneous form of the disease results in disfiguring skin ulcers that may take months or years to heal and in rare cases can become metastatic, causing major tissue damage.

24 Feb 2017

Research may show new ways to repress inflammation at outset

Researchers at the University of Tübingen, working with colleagues in other parts of Germany and in the United States, have identified an enzyme as a kind of biological gauge regulating inflammation in the human body.

21 Feb 2017

Sleep may be regulated by several brain-based immune proteins, study reveals

Sleep -- one of the most basic, yet most mystifying processes of the human body -- has confounded physicians, scientists and evolutionary biologists for centuries.

2 Feb 2017

How does the brain control appetite?

Energy balance between energy intake and expenditure in our bodies is important for maintaining energy homeostasis to keep our bodies functioning properly. The appetite determines how much we eat, the energy intake, by communication between the brain and body.

4 Jan 2017

TUM scientists uncover novel mechanisms of action for skin disease medication

Imiquimod is a medication successfully used in the treatment of skin diseases. In addition to its known mechanism of action, it also triggers other processes in the body.

20 Oct 2016

Researchers discover how signals from infectious bacteria get to inflammasome sensors

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered the way signals from infectious bacteria gain entry into the cytoplasm of host cells to activate disease-fighting inflammasomes.

29 Sep 2016

Commonly used anti-inflammatory drug shows potential to treat Alzheimer's disease

A research project has shown that an experimental model of Alzheimer's disease can be successfully treated with a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug.

11 Aug 2016

Study provides new insights into development of skin-depigmenting disease vitiligo

Researchers at the University of Bonn and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich have decoded a new mechanism of how the immune system can specifically attack pigmented cells of the skin.

8 Jun 2016

Biomedical researcher wins 2016 Gutenberg Research Award for work on programmed cell death

The Gutenberg Research College of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has chosen to give the 2016 Gutenberg Research Award to American biomedical researcher Dr. Vishva Dixit for his groundbreaking work in the field of programmed cell death.

4 May 2016

Researchers discover new function of genes in Fanconi anemia pathway

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important new function of genes in the Fanconi anemia pathway - a finding that could have implications for development of new therapies to treat this disorder and some cancers.

3 May 2016

Increased expression of VEGF-A promotes three common aging-related eye conditions

A Massachusetts General Hospital investigator has found that increased expression of the angiogenic factor VEGF-A promotes three common aging-related eye conditions - both versions of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and also cataracts - in an animal model.

12 Apr 2016