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Refined starch activates immune pathways after low-carb weight loss

After substantial weight loss on a very-low-carbohydrate diet, participants who switched to a diet rich in refined starch showed greater activation of circulating immune and metabolic pathways than those who continued the low-carbohydrate diet or consumed a high-carbohydrate diet rich in added sugar. Mouse experiments suggested that activation of the complement immune pathway may help explain the inflammatory response associated with starch intake.

10 Sep 2026

Gut infection leaves long-lasting immune ‘memories’ at the brain’s borders in mice

In mice, intestinal infections reshaped dural CD4+ T-cell populations and seeded the brain’s outer meningeal border with antigen-specific memory cells that persisted for months and mounted rapid recall responses to bloodborne antigens. Oral priming was associated with reduced Salmonella spread to the brain and modest cross-protection in an engineered shared-antigen Candida model, although the researchers could not definitively prove that dural CD4+ T cells alone caused the protection.

9 Sep 2026

New AI method tracks immune responses without known antibody databases

A research team comprising Associate Professor FUNAKOSHI Yohei, Associate Professor YAKUSHIJIN Kimikazu, Professor MINAMI Hironobu, and Associate Professor OHJI Goh of Kobe University, together with graduate student MASUDA Genki, then-graduate student IIZUMI Shunsuke, Associate Professor OHUE Masahito, and colleagues at the Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a new analysis method, LM-QASAS.

9 Sep 2026

Study uncovers cellular mechanisms behind long-lasting antibody responses

A team led by investigators from the University of Osaka uncovers cellular mechanisms that favor long-lived antibody responses, providing insights that may help researchers design vaccines that provide longer-lasting protection against infection.

9 Sep 2026

UCLA researchers develop scalable TCR therapy for solid tumors

T cell receptor, or TCR, therapy is a cancer treatment that genetically reprograms immune cells, called T cells, to hunt down cancer with precision. It's similar to another treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, but with one key difference: CAR T-cell therapy can only spot proteins that naturally appear outside of a cancer cell.

8 Sep 2026

Could scorpion venom inspire new treatments for liver disease?

Scorpion venom peptides show promising anti-inflammatory, antiviral, analgesic, and immunomodulatory effects, with experimental evidence suggesting that some candidates could target pathways involved in chronic liver disease and viral hepatitis. The review highlights Kv1.3-blocking peptides and antiviral compounds as potential therapeutic leads, while emphasizing that limited hepatic efficacy data, poor pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and manufacturing challenges must be overcome before clinical translation.

8 Sep 2026

Scientists traced a hidden immune route that may worsen tau-linked brain damage

In a mouse model of tauopathy, conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) cross-presented brain-derived antigens in deep cervical lymph nodes, priming CD8+ T cells that accumulated in the brain and promoted neurodegeneration. Disrupting cDC1s or their cross-presentation activity reduced CD8+ T-cell infiltration and protected against neuronal loss, while human primary tauopathy samples also showed increased brain CD8+ T cells, although cDC1 involvement in humans remains unconfirmed.

6 Sep 2026

New prostate cancer screening advances improve early detection

Did you know that about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime? According to the American Cancer Society, it remains the second-leading cause of cancer death among American men.

6 Sep 2026

Mosaic nanoparticle vaccine boosts broad mucosal coronavirus immunity

The persistent threat of emerging coronaviruses highlights the critical need to establish frontline defenses directly at the respiratory entry portal.

4 Sep 2026

Tumor environments sculpt diverse natural killer cells for cancer therapies

For decades, natural killer (NK) cells have been classified into two main groups based on surface markers: one specialized for cytokine production and the other for direct killing.

4 Sep 2026

New app aims to boost prostate cancer screening among Black men

A newly funded study at the University of Oklahoma aims to increase prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening among Black men in Oklahoma, who die from prostate cancer at rates two to four times higher than other racial groups.

2 Sep 2026

Menopause may start changing the gut years before periods stop

A longitudinal study of 964 women found that blood markers of gut epithelial barrier dysfunction and microbial product translocation began to rise around 2 to 2.5 years before the final menstrual period and remained elevated after menopause. The findings suggest that changes in gut barrier integrity may form part of the biological transition through menopause and could help explain links between menopause, inflammation, and later health outcomes.

2 Sep 2026

Nanoparticle flu vaccine design could pave way for broader protection

Influenza viruses constantly shapeshift to evade recognition by the immune system. This shapeshifting occurs in critical proteins like hemagglutinin (HA), which controls how the virus attaches to human cells before entering them.

2 Sep 2026

Targeted MS treatment protects the overall immune system

UZH researchers have developed a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis that is designed to stop the misguided immune response without suppressing the immune system as a whole.

1 Sep 2026

CAR T-cell therapy successfully reverses severe rheumatoid arthritis

Immunotherapies such as CAR T-cell therapy are used primarily to treat cancer. In the future, these patient-specific therapies, manufactured from patients' own immune cells, could also help cure autoimmune diseases.

27 Aug 2026

Scalable stem cell method advances off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies

Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University (BU) have developed a scalable method for generating CD4+ helper T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), overcoming a longstanding challenge in the development of stem cell-based immunotherapies.

27 Aug 2026

Gene removal makes engineered immune cells more effective against osteosarcoma

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that removing the gene for Regnase-1 from engineered immune cells makes them more effective at treating relapsed osteosarcoma.

25 Aug 2026

Yeast-based nanoparticle vaccine could make annual flu shots obsolete

The world mostly relies on an 80-year-old method for producing flu vaccines from chicken eggs - a slow, costly process that struggles to quickly adapt to new, mutant strains.

24 Aug 2026

Disrupted brain-immune signaling may help drive neurodegeneration

A Cell perspective argues that neurodegeneration can emerge from disrupted communication between neural and immune networks, with peripheral immunity, microglia, and gene-regulatory programs all shaping disease processes. The authors propose that restoring immune homeostasis and recalibrating neuroimmune circuits could create new therapeutic and diagnostic opportunities, while emphasizing that many mechanisms remain unresolved in humans.

24 Aug 2026

A striking immune cell pattern emerges around a person’s 100th birthday

Single-cell immune profiling found that CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes become more abundant around age 100, showing stepwise differentiation and substantial clonal expansion. Ex vivo experiments also revealed cytokine plasticity within individual clones, supporting the hypothesis that these cells adapt to persistent antigens during healthy aging, although their direct role in longevity remains unproven.

23 Aug 2026