Autoimmunity News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

Study reveals seven “forms of disease” in COVID-19

In a study recently published in the top journal "Allergy", a team of MedUni Vienna scientists led by immunologist Winfried F. Pickl and allergologist Rudolf Valenta (both from the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology) showed that there are seven "forms of disease" in COVID-19.

2 Nov 2020

Children with multiple islet autoantibodies are more likely to progress to type 1 diabetes

Children with multiple islet autoantibodies - biological markers of autoimmunity -- are more likely to progress to symptomatic type 1 diabetes (T1D) than those who remain positive for a single autoantibody.

30 Oct 2020

Anti-inflammatory mediator may play key role in wound healing

"Wound healing is one of the most complex biological processes," writes Professor Kazumitsu Sugiura and Dr. Kenta Saito from Fujita Health University, Japan, in their article recently published in Nature's Scientific Reports.

27 Oct 2020

Researchers show a simple way to protect transplanted islets from rejection

Type 1 diabetes, or T1D, results from the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. People with T1D require exogenous insulin and suffer swings in the levels of glucose in the blood that impact life expectancy and increase risks of cardiovascular disease, neuropathies and kidney failure.

22 Oct 2020

Immunoglobulin M ACE2 autoantibodies associated with severe COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses with little prospect of immediate relief, a recent study by Johns Hopkins University researchers published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020 discusses the association of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) autoantibodies against the host receptor that binds severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with severe disease via vascular endothelial damage. This could help develop better therapies and prognostic criteria.

19 Oct 2020

Exuberant activation of immune cells in severe COVID-19 resembles lupus

In severe cases of COVID-19, Emory researchers have been observing an exuberant activation of immune cells, resembling acute flares of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease.

9 Oct 2020

DFG establishes new research units

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is setting up six new Research Units and a new Clinical Research Unit. The DFG Joint Committee decided this on the recommendation of the Senate.

7 Oct 2020

Study shows how autoimmune diseases may be targeted using Treg-based cellular therapies

In a new University of California, Irvine-led study, researchers have discovered how regulatory T cells (Treg) are instrumental in limiting the damage caused to the spinal cord in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS).

22 Sep 2020

Study uncovers new markers present on melanoma tumors

A collaborative study led by Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute has uncovered new markers (HLA-associated peptides) that are uniquely present on melanoma tumours and could pave the way for therapeutic vaccines to be developed in the fight against melanoma.

16 Sep 2020

Inhibiting STING activation could be new therapeutic strategy to treat ALS and FTD

Alberto Yáñez Boyer, Ramón y Cajal researcher at BIOTECMED (Interdisciplinary Research Structure in Biotechnology and Biomedicine) and the Department of Microbiology and Ecology at the University of Valencia (UV), participates in a study on the C9orf72 gene and its mutations in the immune system.

28 Aug 2020

Using engineered off-the-shelf therapeutic T cells to fight cancer

Personalized cancer treatments are no longer just options of the future. In the past few years, researchers have made significant progress in 'teaching' the body's immune T cells to recognize and kill specific cancer cells, and human clinical trials have shown that this approach can successfully eliminate tumors.

20 Aug 2020

New research on COVID-19 and aging

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that genetic factors, chronic disease, and biological aging define the relationship between aging and the severity of COVID-19.

11 Aug 2020

Climate change and disruption of ecosystem affect allergies, respiratory disorders

Climate change and disruption of the ecosystem have the potential to profoundly impact the human body. Xue Ming, professor of neurology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who recently published a paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on the effects of climate change on allergies, autoimmunity and the microbiome - the beneficial microorganisms that live on and inside the human body - discusses how the delicate balance of the environment affects conditions such as allergies, autism, and immune disorders.

6 Aug 2020

De novo protein decoys that block SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 shows that computational design technology can be efficiently harnessed towards this end, producing new molecules to inhibit viral entry and replication.

5 Aug 2020

Human genome may explain the neonatal origins of chronic immune and inflammatory diseases

A study published in the journal Nature Communications has pinpointed a number of areas of the human genome that may help explain the neonatal origins of chronic immune and inflammatory diseases of later life, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coeliac disease.

28 Jul 2020

Study shows how protective T cells become pathogenic in atherosclerosis

High cholesterol kills. In fact, one in four Americans will die from the consequences of atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaques of fat and cholesterol in the arteries. Statins have helped reduce mortality, but millions are still at risk.

24 Jul 2020

Study uncovers dual role for molecule involved in autoimmune eye disease

The inflammatory molecule interleukin-17A (IL-17A) triggers immune cells that in turn reduce IL-17A's pro-inflammatory activity, according to a study by National Eye Institute researchers.

23 Jul 2020

GW researcher receives $3.6 million to study HIV-1 resistance to antibody treatments

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $3.6 million to Rebecca Lynch, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, to investigate HIV-1 resistance to antibody treatments.

16 Jul 2020

10x Genomics launches Chromium Single Cell Immune Profiling v2 product to fight COVID-19

10x Genomics strengthened the research toolkit of scientists around the globe today with the launch of its Chromium Single Cell Immune Profiling v2 product.

15 Jul 2020

Salmonella biofilm protein can cause autoimmune responses, arthritis in animals

Scientists from the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and Temple University have demonstrated that a Salmonella biofilm protein can cause autoimmune responses and arthritis in animals.

10 Jul 2020