Interferons News and Research

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Research offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 gets into respiratory tissue and exploits our defenses

What makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, such a threat? A new study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Ph.D. at Boston Children's Hospital and Alex K. Shalek, Ph.D. at MIT, pinpoints the likely cell types the virus infects.

22 Apr 2020

Immunity to coronavirus infection may help stem the pandemic

The raging coronavirus pandemic is causing immense fear and uncertainty across the world. One of the most distressing aspects of COVID-19 disease is the seemingly large number of unknowns. These include the burning question of immunity. Does a person who was sick with the COVID-19 and then recovered or was infected without symptoms, have immunity against re-infection?

21 Apr 2020

Tumors commandeer cell death pathway to avoid immune system attack after radiation

Cancer cells avoid an immune system attack after radiation by commandeering a cell signaling pathway that helps dying cells avoid triggering an immune response, a new study led by UTSW scientists suggests.

13 Apr 2020

Gene that could affect the progress of ALS discovered

Researchers from the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University have successfully found a gene that could work towards accelerating the progression of ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The study titled, "The loss of TBK1 kinase activity in motor neurons or in all cell types differentially impacts ALS disease progression in SOD1 mice," was published in the latest issue of the journal Neuron.

29 Mar 2020

Gut bacteria can boost effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, mice study suggests

Could the response to cancer immunotherapy depend on bacteria that originate in the gut and travel to the tumor?

7 Mar 2020

Updated USPSTF recommendations on hepatitis C screening

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection screening for adults in the age group 18 to 79 years. This update comes against the background of increasing HCV over the last ten years, primarily due to higher injection drug use, and closer monitoring. The recommendation ensures that this screening will be covered by insurance as well without cost-sharing.

2 Mar 2020

New direct-acting antiviral therapies effectively target Hepatitis C virus

New direct-acting antiviral therapies are highly effective at eliminating the Hepatitis C virus infection, according to a systematic evidence review by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University.

2 Mar 2020

High bacterial levels in half of lupus skin rashes

A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reports that half the skin lesions present in patients with lupus show the presence of viable staph bacteria. This makes them more susceptible to skin infections and also increases the risk that the infection will spread to others.

9 Feb 2020

Experimental vaccine prevents infection of lung and nasal cavity

Researchers have found that viruses causing human respiratory infections called human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have a special ability to hide itself from the body’s immune system. This prevents the body from fighting the infection off. This very strategy has been used in development of a vaccine against HMPV say the researchers.

3 Feb 2020

New antibody shows promise in active lupus

A new trial involving the use of an antibody called anifrolumab reports improvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after 52 weeks of treatment. The research, titled 'Trial of Anifrolumab in Active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus', is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

19 Dec 2019

Influenza research could pave way for new and improved drugs, vaccines

Researchers at the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have discovered a key reason as to why the influenza virus is so effective at establishing infection and causing damage in the lungs.

13 Dec 2019

Attacking HIV at the source

A new study published on November 26, 2019, in the journal Cell Reports, details a new discovery that may help avert HIV infection right at the start. The virus is known to take a long time to infect a person, and the scientists say they have found a period during which it can be weakened or killed, in the very first hours after it has entered a host. They call this the window of vulnerability.

26 Nov 2019

Key mechanism identified for how antiviral immune responses reprogram liver metabolism

Researchers at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences identified a key mechanism for how antiviral immune responses reprogram liver metabolism. Their recent study, which was published in the renowned scientific journal Immunity, investigated the communication between inflammation and liver metabolism during chronic viral infection.

26 Nov 2019

Moffitt study discovers cellular mechanism controlling tumor cell recognition by immune cells

Immunotherapy has become a standard treatment approach for several types of cancer, including melanoma.

1 Nov 2019

Scientists pinpoint epigenetic differences in the way lupus affects black women

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have pinpointed epigenetic differences in the way lupus affects black women compared to other lupus patients, revealing important mechanics of the puzzling disease.

24 Oct 2019

Disrupting key immune regulator boosts anti-tumor immunity, enables cancer clearance

The immune system must strike an exquisite balance between vanquishing infections and cancer, while at the same time restraining its activity to avoid inadvertently attacking the body's healthy tissues and organs.

23 Oct 2019

Researchers receive $3.2 million NIH grant to pursue a deeper understanding of Down syndrome

Mount Sinai researchers have been awarded a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to pursue a deeper understanding of Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities in children and young adults, affecting more than 200,000 individuals in the United States.

22 Oct 2019

Mutant live attenuated Ebola virus elicits protective immunity in monkeys

Inoculation with an Ebola virus that has mutations in a protein called VP35 does not cause disease and elicits protection in monkeys, researchers show September 17 in the journal Cell Reports.

17 Sep 2019

Study shows potential of crucial signaling pathway as biomarker, therapeutic target for cancer

A crucial signaling pathway that can tell the immune system to fight off cancer can also be co-opted by cancer cells to put the brakes on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

9 Aug 2019

Comprehensive gene activity database could significantly reduce animal use

A comprehensive database of gene activity in mice across ten disease models, which could significantly reduce animal use worldwide, has been developed by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, which gives a full picture of the immune response to different pathogens.

29 Jun 2019