Immune System News and Research

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"Training" the immune system with β-glucan compound may improve immune recovery

Immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitor drugs, have made worlds of difference for the treatment of cancer.Most clinicians and scientists understand these drugs to act on what's known as the adaptive immune system, the T cells and B cells that respond to specific threats to the body.

30 Oct 2020

Booster dose enhances immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in aged mice

Now, a new study published on the pre-print server bioRxiv* shows that a single dose of the vaccine has induced cellular and humoral immunity in aged or older mice. A second dosage was needed to enhance the vaccine's immune response, showing that a prime-boost strategy may be an essential step to boost immunogenicity in the elderly.

30 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 viroporin triggers NLRP3 inflammasome causing a severe inflammatory response

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Florida report that the SARS-CoV-2 viroporin triggers the NLR Family Pyrin Domain Containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, which is responsible for the inflammatory pathology in severely ill COVID-19 patients.

30 Oct 2020

SMART researchers develop novel microcarrier for large-scale cell production

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a novel microcarrier for large-scale cell production and expansion that offers higher yield and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional methods, and reduces steps required in the cell retrieval process.

29 Oct 2020

UH and CWRU announce Phase 3 trial of Astrazeneca's investigational COVID-19 vaccine

University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University announced today that UH Cleveland Medical Center has been selected as a clinical trial site for the Phase 3 global study of an investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, sponsored by AstraZeneca.

29 Oct 2020

Study suggests a role for the hypothalamus in genetic susceptibility to IBD

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease and stress and depression.

29 Oct 2020

Research shows why certain people infected with COVID-19 show no symptoms

Researchers worldwide have been surprised to see that individuals can be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus - the virus that produces COVID-19 - without showing symptoms. Since these individuals expose others to infection without knowing it, it is important to find an explanation and hopefully a solution to this.

29 Oct 2020

A systematic review and meta-analysis of stroke in COVID-19 patients

Fourteen out of every 1,000 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital experience a stroke, a rate that is even higher in older patients and those with severe infection and pre-existing vascular conditions, according to a report published this week.

28 Oct 2020

Researchers demonstrate potent antibody that fights against coronavirus

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have shown that a potent antibody from a COVID-19 survivor interferes with a key feature on the surface of the coronavirus's distinctive spikes and induces critical pieces of those spikes to break off in the process.

28 Oct 2020

Researchers develop a model to design vaccines, cancer immunotherapies

The body's immune system defeats diseases by sensing foreign invaders, like bacteria or viruses, and then mounting a response against them.

28 Oct 2020

Research: Sick vampire bats socially distance themselves from groupmates

New research shows that when vampire bats feel sick, they socially distance themselves from groupmates in their roost - no public health guidance required.

28 Oct 2020

Inflammasome may play a key role in triggering immune response to cancer

The inflammasome — a protein signaling network that is activated to rid the body of virus or bacteria-infected cells — may play an important role in triggering an immune response to cancer and causing an existing class of drugs to work better against cancers.

27 Oct 2020

Research details new strategy for overcoming treatment resistance by zeroing in on dendritic cells

Many of the most aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers are highly effective at blocking T cells, known as the foot soldiers of the immune system, from reaching and responding to tumors.

27 Oct 2020

Myeloid cells can suppress immune response, promote brain metastasis

Scientists have long believed that the brain protects itself from an aggressive immune response to keep down inflammation. However, that evolutionary control may work against it when a cancer cell attempts to spread to the brain, researchers at the University of Notre Dame have discovered.

27 Oct 2020

Study reveals human protein that helps the immune system fight viral infections

University of North Carolina School of Medicine scientists has made a curious discovery about a well-known human protein that helps the immune system fight viral infections.

27 Oct 2020

Researchers identify a new way to prevent skin reactions in cancer patients

Using the body's immune system to fight cancer has great potential, but can also bring serious side effects, including itchy and painful skin reactions.

27 Oct 2020

Researchers identify effective way to protect vulnerable people from COVID-19

T-cells taken from the blood of people who recovered from a COVID-19 infection can be successfully multiplied in the lab and maintain the ability to effectively target proteins that are key to the virus's function, according to a new study published Oct. 26 in Blood.

27 Oct 2020

Multimodal mapping of immune landscape in pancreatic cancer could guide personalized therapies

Pancreatic cancer has remained resistant to immunotherapies that are revolutionizing the treatment of many types of cancer.

27 Oct 2020

Study finds new transposon-derived genes related to autism

The lack of some genes in the BEC/TCEAL cluster could be related to some alterations associated with the autism spectrum disorder, according to a preclinical study published in the journal Genome Biology, and led by Professor Jordi Garcia Fernàndez, from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona, and researcher Jaime Carvajal, from the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology - University Pablo de Olavide.

27 Oct 2020