Immune Response News and Research

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Smoking cigarettes may influence RA disease progression: Study

Smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for developing rheumatoid arthritis and may have a negative impact on the effectiveness of anti-tumour necrosis factor inhibitors in RA patients taking these treatments, according to results of two studies presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.

18 Jun 2010

Biological mechanism associated with remission during pregnancy

During pregnancy, many women experience remission of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and uveitis. Now, scientists have described a biological mechanism responsible for changes in the immune system that helps to explain the remission.

17 Jun 2010

CINJ researchers combine series of vaccination injections to treat prostate cancer

Looking to harness the body's own immune system to target prostate cancer that has spread to the bones (metastatic) and is unresponsive to standard treatment, investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey have just launched a clinical trial focusing on a combination of vaccine and radiation drug therapy.

17 Jun 2010

New biomarker study explores early detection of ovarian cancer

Despite many research advances, ovarian cancer remains lethal in a majority of cases, due to late diagnosis of the disease. In a new study, Dr. Joshua LaBaer of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, along with Arturo Ramirez and Paul Lampe, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, used a novel method for identifying biomarkers-proteins in blood that can identify ovarian cancer before symptoms appear.

17 Jun 2010

University of Montreal scientists discover free radical mechanism to viral invasion

Canadian researchers have discovered a new way the body combats respiratory viral infections. In the prestigious journal PLoS Pathogens, scientists from the University of Montreal and the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center explain how the NOX2 molecule, an enzyme that generates a burst of highly reactive oxygen derivatives (or free radicals), activates defense genes and molecules when viruses invade lung cells.

16 Jun 2010

Combination of BRAF-targeted therapy and immunotherapy shows promise for treatment of melanoma

Combined targeted therapy against the BRAF/MAPK pathway with immunotherapy shows promise as a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of melanoma, according to results of a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

16 Jun 2010

'Micro-ear' to screen for malaria, sleeping sickness

A team of researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, and the UK's National Institute of Medical Research at Mill Hill, are developing a 'micro-ear' which may help develop medicines and screening for diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness in Africa. The project is in two parts, explains Professor Jon Cooper, a bio-engineer at University of Glasgow.

14 Jun 2010

Monoclonal antibodies induce long-lasting, protective antiviral immune response

Monoclonal antibodies are the largest class of biotherapeutic drugs. When administered to infected organisms to blunt the propagation of pathogenic viruses, they may also induce a long-lasting and protective antiviral immune response similar to that achieved by vaccination. These results obtained in mice by the "Oncogenèse et Immunothérapie" group at the Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier (CNRS/Universités Montpellier 1 and 2), have been published on 10 June in PLoS Pathogens.

14 Jun 2010

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Genetic makeup has been identified as a key factor leading to the development of sepsis, a systemic inflammatory reaction that occurs during infection. Sepsis is considered severe when associated with organ dysfunction.

14 Jun 2010

Researchers transform yellow fever vaccine to fend off mosquito borne parasites that cause malaria

There is no vaccine for malaria, which sickens almost a quarter of a billion people each year and kills a child every 30 seconds. That could be changing: researchers at The Rockefeller University have genetically transformed the yellow fever vaccine to prime the immune system to fend off the mosquito borne parasites that cause the disease.

14 Jun 2010

DFG sets up new Research Training Groups for German researchers

To further enhance the promotion of young researchers in Germany, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has established twelve new Research Training Groups.

14 Jun 2010

Gamma interferon wakes-up sleeping stem cells to produce immune system cells to fight invading bacteria

Most of the time, the body's blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells remain dormant, with just a few producing blood cells and maintaining a balance among the different types.

10 Jun 2010

Phase 3 clinical study: Ipilimumab boosts, sustains immune system responses against melanoma tumors

The Cancer Research Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of immune system-based treatments for cancer, announced today its celebration of a significant new breakthrough in the treatment of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The new treatment, a cancer immunotherapy created by Cancer Research Institute Scientific Advisory Council Associate Director James P. Allison, Ph.D., is designed to "take the brakes off the immune system," and is the first treatment ever proven to extend life for patients whose melanomas are unresponsive to existing cancer therapies.

9 Jun 2010

Immunosignature technique provides pre-symptomatic diagnosis for broad range of ailments

An inexpensive system for earlier disease diagnosis could save innumerable lives. It would also have a profound impact on the nation's healthcare industry, currently buckling under the strain of spiraling costs.

9 Jun 2010

Argos presents positive AGS-003 Phase 2 data for newly diagnosed advanced renal cell carcinoma at ASCO

Argos Therapeutics today announced the presentation of positive interim data from a Phase 2 trial that evaluated the clinical activity, safety and immune response of AGS-003 treatment, given in combination with sunitinib, in patients with newly diagnosed advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The data were discussed June 7 in a poster session at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held in Chicago, IL.

8 Jun 2010

FDA grants CryoLife 510(k) clearance for shelf-life extension of CryoValve SG pulmonary heart valve

CryoLife, Inc., a biomaterials, medical device and tissue processing company, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a five-year shelf-life on its CryoValve® SG pulmonary human heart valve processed with the Company's proprietary SynerGraft® technology.

8 Jun 2010

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Scientists including researchers from the University of Florida have discovered additional evidence that generalized vitiligo - a disease that typically causes patches of white skin on the face, neck and extremities that pop star Michael Jackson may have experienced - is associated with slight variations in genes that play a role in the body's natural defenses.

8 Jun 2010

Researchers decipher how mast cells set immune defense on right track

In the event of an infection, the immune system releases messenger substances. These molecules can either activate immune cells to defeat invading pathogens, or inhibit them to prevent an excessive immune reaction. For this, the immune system has to decide very quickly what mixture of activating and inhibiting messenger molecules leads to a successful defence.

8 Jun 2010

Tel Aviv University discovers ancient switch in plants that could halt cancer metastasis

Although plants and animals are very different organisms, they share a surprising number of biological mechanisms. A plant biologist at Tel Aviv University says that one of these mechanisms may be the answer for turning off cancer growth in humans.

8 Jun 2010

Ipilimumab extends survival of metastatic melanoma patients: Study

A therapy that multiplies the effect of a natural disease-fighting antibody has extended the lives of patients with metastatic melanoma in a large, international clinical trial. The study's researchers will report their findings simultaneously at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago and in the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Jun 2010

Immune Response News and Research

Smoking cigarettes may influence RA disease progression: Study

Biological mechanism associated with remission during pregnancy

CINJ researchers combine series of vaccination injections to treat prostate cancer

New biomarker study explores early detection of ovarian cancer

University of Montreal scientists discover free radical mechanism to viral invasion

Combination of BRAF-targeted therapy and immunotherapy shows promise for treatment of melanoma

'Micro-ear' to screen for malaria, sleeping sickness

Monoclonal antibodies induce long-lasting, protective antiviral immune response

CNVs increases patients' susceptibility to severe sepsis

Researchers transform yellow fever vaccine to fend off mosquito borne parasites that cause malaria

DFG sets up new Research Training Groups for German researchers

Gamma interferon wakes-up sleeping stem cells to produce immune system cells to fight invading bacteria

Phase 3 clinical study: Ipilimumab boosts, sustains immune system responses against melanoma tumors

Immunosignature technique provides pre-symptomatic diagnosis for broad range of ailments

Argos presents positive AGS-003 Phase 2 data for newly diagnosed advanced renal cell carcinoma at ASCO

FDA grants CryoLife 510(k) clearance for shelf-life extension of CryoValve SG pulmonary heart valve

Vitiligo associated with genes variations linked to body's immune response

Researchers decipher how mast cells set immune defense on right track

Tel Aviv University discovers ancient switch in plants that could halt cancer metastasis

Ipilimumab extends survival of metastatic melanoma patients: Study

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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