Immune Response News and Research

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MIT engineers develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer vaccines to lungs

Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on vaccines that can establish a front line of defense at mucosal surfaces.

26 Sep 2013

Discovery could help develop new treatments for blood diseases

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have found that even our immune system is subject to performance enhancement, with our bodies giving immune cells the boost they need to ensure the best team is selected to fight infections.

24 Sep 2013

Scientists aim at protecting adults from virulent strain of avian influenza virus

Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Vaccine Development are part of nationwide vaccine research aimed at protecting adults from a new and virulent strain of avian (bird) influenza (flu) virus.

20 Sep 2013

Scientists are preparing for possible pandemic spread of new bird flu strain

Scientists at Saint Louis University are preparing for the potential pandemic spread of a new bird flu strain that caused severe disease in China last spring, joining researchers from seven other Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test vaccines to protect against the illness in adults.

20 Sep 2013

Scientists prepare to test vaccines to protect against new bird flu strain

Scientists at Group Health Research Institute are preparing for the potential pandemic spread of a new bird flu strain that caused severe disease in China earlier this year, joining researchers from seven other Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by the National Institutes of Health to test vaccines to protect against the illness in adults.

19 Sep 2013

New blood test accurately differentiates viral and bacterial infections

A blood test developed by researchers at Duke Medicine showed more than 90-percent accuracy in distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections when tested in people with respiratory illnesses.

19 Sep 2013

New gonorrhea treatment eliminates gonococcal infection from female mice

A new gonorrhea treatment, based on an anti-cancer therapy developed by a Buffalo startup company, has successfully eliminated gonococcal infection from female mice and prevented reinfection, according to research published today by University at Buffalo scientists in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

19 Sep 2013

Scientists develop experimental vaccine against human CMV infection

An experimental vaccine against human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, which endangers the developing fetus, organ transplant recipients, patients with HIV and others who have a weakened immune system, proved safe and more effective than previous vaccines developed to prevent infection by the ubiquitous virus.

19 Sep 2013

Cleveland Clinic creates spin-off company to develop vaccine for preventing breast cancer

Cleveland Clinic Innovations has created a spin-off company to develop a preventive breast cancer vaccine based on research from Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.

18 Sep 2013

New method to target, eliminate cancer-supporting macrophages in mouse tumors

When a person has cancer, some of the cells in his or her body have changed and are growing uncontrollably. Most cancer drugs try to treat the disease by killing those fast-growing cells, but another approach called immunotherapy tries to stimulate a person's own immune system to attack the cancer itself.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers identify gene mutation linked to age-related macular degeneration

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, has identified a gene mutation linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age 50.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers find that people affected by cold sores have mutation in gene

Why some people are troubled by cold sores while others are not has finally been explained by scientists. Cold sores affect around one in five people but, until now, no one has been sure why some are more prone to the virus that causes them.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers develop new ways of preventing septic shock

The body's immune system is set up much like a home security system; it has sensors on the outside of cells that act like motion detectors — floodlights — that click on when there's an intruder rustling in the bushes, bacteria that seem suspect.

13 Sep 2013

New antibody could prevent Candida infections in patients who receive central lines

A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has developed an antibody that could prevent Candida infections that often afflict hospitalized patients who receive central lines.

12 Sep 2013

Researchers study potential role of two risk factors in preeclampsia

Although preeclampsia occurs in about 3 percent of pregnancies, it's still unforeseen in many cases. A report of new research, now in press at the Journal of Reproductive Immunology, documents how two distinct risk factors combine to affect the odds that a first-time mother could develop the sometimes life-threatening pregnancy complication.

11 Sep 2013

Discovery opens doors for developing new therapies to eradicate tumor cells, combat infections

Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network have discovered a new defense mechanism that the immune system utilises to combat infections. The team's discovery of how a novel protein unexpectedly activates an immune response shows how this mechanism can also be used to get rid of tumour cells.

11 Sep 2013

Interferon-alpha 2b and ribavirin treatment may be effective for MERS-CoV infection

Treatment with two common drugs reduced viral replication and lung damage when given to monkeys infected with the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The condition is deadly pneumonia that has killed more than 100 people, primarily in the Middle East.

10 Sep 2013

Parasites could be potential key to treating autoimmune diseases

There is a new weapon in the fight against autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and lupus, the common trait of which is an immune system that attacks its own organs and tissues.

10 Sep 2013

Novel viral therapy to treat specific types of cancer in children

Parents do everything they can to protect their children against all of the nasty germs floating around classrooms across the country this time of year. Doctors and researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital, however, are looking into how those same types of common viruses can actually help treat a child who is diagnosed with certain cancers.

10 Sep 2013

Little STING could go long way in avoiding arthritis, type 1 diabetes, report researchers

A little STING could go a long way in helping treat or even avoid autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, researchers report.

10 Sep 2013