Immune Response News and Research

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MicroRNA molecule plays crucial role in managing cell survival and growth

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a microRNA molecule as a surprisingly crucial player in managing cell survival and growth.

8 Oct 2014

Cyclophosphamide drug can eliminate life-threatening immune response after bone marrow transplants

Johns Hopkins and other cancer researchers report that a very short course of a chemotherapy drug, called cyclophosphamide, not only can prevent a life-threatening immune response in some bone marrow transplant recipients, but also can eliminate such patients' need for the usual six months of immune suppression medicines commonly prescribed to prevent severe forms of this immune response.

8 Oct 2014

NF-kB molecule may help malignant cells hide from the immune system

A molecule that helps cancer cells evade programmed self-destruction, an internal source of death, might also help malignant cells hide from the immune system, an external source of death.

8 Oct 2014

Researchers develop potential fast-acting "vaccine" for myasthenia gravis

Nearly 60,000 Americans suffer from myasthenia gravis (MG), a non-inherited autoimmune form of muscle weakness. The disease has no cure, and the primary treatments are nonspecific immunosuppressants and inhibitors of the enzyme cholinesterase.

8 Oct 2014

Researchers discover novel mechanisms of cell migration

During cancer metastasis, immune response or the development of organisms, cells are moving in a controlled manner through the body. Researchers from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel discovered novel mechanisms of cell migration by observing cells moving on lines of connective tissue.

7 Oct 2014

Researchers find new clues to how common cold can trigger asthma

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that could explain why the common cold can bring on life-threatening asthma attacks.

6 Oct 2014

New research on barcoding tool that tracks origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma

A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Children's Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells.

6 Oct 2014

Researchers find potential new way to better control immune-mediated diseases

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that T-cells - a type of white blood cell that learns to recognize and attack microbial pathogens - are activated by a pain receptor.

6 Oct 2014

Diet may influence susceptibility to autoinflammatory bone disease in at-risk individuals

Diet-induced changes in the gut's bacterial ecosystem can alter susceptibility to an autoinflammatory bone disease by modifying the immune response, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists reported. The findings appeared September 28 as an advanced online publication of the scientific journal Nature.

3 Oct 2014

Animal study suggests ibuprofen can reduce lung inflammation in elderly

New research shows that the lungs become more inflammatory with age and that ibuprofen can lower that inflammation.

3 Oct 2014

Gut microbe in patients may tip doctors about SCID

Many people recognize "the bubble boy" as an unusual character from a "Seinfeld" episode or a John Travolta movie.

30 Sep 2014

Brain cancer patients can benefit from Rapamycin drug

Every day, organ transplant patients around the world take a drug called rapamycin to keep their immune systems from rejecting their new kidneys and hearts.

30 Sep 2014

Seven NIH research contracts awarded to identify novel adjuvant candidates

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded seven research contracts to discover and characterize new adjuvants, or substances formulated as part of vaccines to enhance their protective ability.

30 Sep 2014

PD-L1 protein could be a potential immunotherapy target for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Treating patients with high-dose radiotherapy after chemotherapy and surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma does not achieve improvements in local relapse and overall survival, according to data from a prospective randomized phase II trial presented at ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.

30 Sep 2014

Nivolumab drug achieves superior response rates in previously-treated advanced melanoma patients

The monoclonal antibody nivolumab achieves superior response rates and a longer duration of response than standard chemotherapy in patients whose melanoma has progressed after treatment with ipilimumab, according to phase III data presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain.

30 Sep 2014

Study provides support for new understanding of the immune system

A study published in the journal Science provides support for a new-and still controversial-understanding of the immune system. The research was conducted by collaborators in the U.S. and Europe, including Robert Cramer, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine and member of the Dartmouth Lung Biology Center, and Kelly Shepherdson, PhD, at the time a graduate student in Cramer's lab.

29 Sep 2014

Australian researchers use hookworms to reduce symptoms of celiac disease

Australian researchers have achieved groundbreaking results in a clinical trial using hookworms to reduce the symptoms of celiac disease.

26 Sep 2014

Research findings provide clues for design of future HIV vaccine

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have described how a single family of antibodies that broadly neutralizes different strains of HIV has evolved remarkably diverse structures to attack a vulnerable site on the virus.

26 Sep 2014

Triple-punch of antibodies prevents, wipes out hepatitis C infection in laboratory mice

A triple-punch of antibodies both prevented hepatitis C infection and wiped out the disease after it had established itself in laboratory mice, according to a study led by Princeton University researchers.

26 Sep 2014

New findings raise hope for novel class of drugs to treat lupus

New findings by a biomedical engineer and his team at the University of Houston raise hope for a new class of drugs to treat lupus that may not include the long list of adverse risks and side effects often associated with current treatments for this disease.

25 Sep 2014