immunity News and Research

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Researchers discover how a new immune system works to protect bacteria from phages

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered how a new immune system works to protect bacteria from bacteriophages (phages), viruses that specifically infect bacteria.

11 Jan 2020

Researchers analyze molecular characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid from LMM patients

Patients with advanced melanoma who develop metastases in the leptomeninges, the fluid filled membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, have an extremely dismal prognosis. Most patients only survive for 8 to 10 weeks after diagnosis.

11 Jan 2020

Siah2 Gene Control could Help Treat Melanomas More Effectively

To develop improved cancer immunotherapies, it is essential to understand how cancers shut down the natural immune response to foreign antigens. This current study demonstrates how mice lacking the Siah2 gene, fail to develop BRAF-mutation carrying melanoma from the corresponding cells, completely rejecting them. This could help in boosting the anticancer effect of existing specific immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as anti-PD-1 drugs.

10 Jan 2020

Sodium chloride nanoparticles offer potential for cancer therapies with fewer side effects

A new study at the University of Georgia has found a way to attack cancer cells that is potentially less harmful to the patient. Sodium chloride nanoparticles – more commonly known as salt – are toxic to cancer cells and offer the potential for therapies that have fewer negative side effects than current treatments.

9 Jan 2020

Nano-sized copper compounds together with immunotherapy can kill cancer cells

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from KU Leuven, the University of Bremen, the Leibniz Institute of Materials Engineering, and the University of Ioannina has succeeded in killing tumour cells in mice using nano-sized copper compounds together with immunotherapy. After the therapy, the cancer did not return.

9 Jan 2020

Timing is key: preventing infant SHIV infection by PEP

Researchers tested methods to prevent development of SHIV, an infection similar to HIV, in infant macaque monkeys.

9 Jan 2020

Maternal microbiota is a source of newborn immunity, shows study

Mother's milk has been long touted for its salutary effects on the newborn and its ability to shield infants from certain infections.

9 Jan 2020

Immune cells could help kill cancer cells, finds study

Researchers from UCL Cancer Institute have found that a subset of immune cells can kill cancer cells when activated.

8 Jan 2020

Novel nanoparticle vaccine provides long-lasting protection against influenza virus

A novel nanoparticle vaccine that combines two major influenza proteins is effective in providing broad, long-lasting protection against influenza virus in mice, showing promise as a universal flu vaccine, according to a study by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

7 Jan 2020

Immune cell discovery could hold the key to effective therapies against cancer

Scientists at UCL have identified how a subset of immune cells are activated to kill cancerous cells, a finding in mice which could hold the key to new powerful therapies against cancer.

7 Jan 2020

ART may not be completely effective in restoring immune protection, study suggests

A study led by researchers from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Oregon Health & Science University, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, showed that, despite successful antiretroviral therapy, antigen specific memory to vaccinations that occurred before HIV infection did not recover, even after immune reconstitution.

6 Jan 2020

Body clock gene impairs defense against pneumonia

Most living things have an internal body clock which regulates when they sleep and when they wake up. A complex set of genes turning on and off, make this body clock run over roughly 24 hours, and a gene known by the acronym BMAL1 is one of the master regulators of this clock, controlling many other body clock genes and pathways.

6 Jan 2020

Certain cancer drugs could be used in the future to treat COPD

New research has shown the potential for clinically available cancer treatments to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

6 Jan 2020

Bile acids could also play a role in immunity and inflammation

Could bile acids--the fat-dissolving juices churned out by the liver and gallbladder--also play a role in immunity and inflammation?

3 Jan 2020

California's vaccine policy improved immunization coverage

In 2016, California removed vaccine exemptions for non-medical reasons, such as parental hesitancy, to requirements for school entry. In other words, California children needed to have a medical reason to refuse vaccination if they wanted to join kindergarten. In so doing, the state may have paved the way for a higher percentage of vaccination recipients at both county and state level, says a new study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.

23 Dec 2019

Early-life disruption to lymphotoxin pathway in mice can compromise adult immunity to rotavirus

Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered how a brief disruption to a molecular pathway in the guts of mice before they are born can compromise adult immunity to a common and often deadly intestinal virus.

22 Dec 2019

Artistic interest lengthens the lifespan

Go ahead, plan those trips to the museum or a concert, to feed your longing for beauty and art. Not only will it give you a few hours of delight, it could contribute to a longer life. This is the striking conclusion reached by a study on older adults, published in December 2019 in the British Medical Journal.

19 Dec 2019

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

Experimental Zika vaccine improves fetal outcomes in rhesus macaque model

An experimental Zika vaccine lowered levels of virus in pregnant monkeys and improved fetal outcomes in a rhesus macaque model of congenital Zika virus infection, according to a new study in Science Translational Medicine.

19 Dec 2019

Radiation-induced brain damage: new study reveals the mechanism

Following radiation therapy to the head for brain tumors, more than 80% of patients who live six months at least after the treatment report a loss of some cognitive functions such as memory, thinking and related tasks. Now a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports shows why this happens, which in turn could pave the way to correct this damage and protect the brain in future patients.

17 Dec 2019