Immune System News and Research

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CAR-T cells used to target glioblastoma

Immunotherapy is the new weapon against cancers and building upon existing research, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a way to make immunotherapy more effective in a deadly and common form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.

24 Jul 2019

Scientists find surprising insight into Legionnaires’ disease

The incidence of Legionnaires' disease has increased in the past two decades. The natural habitat of Legionella is freshwater biotopes, where they mainly reproduce in amoebae.

24 Jul 2019

Algorithm based on ‘first impressions’ of immune cells may help predict onset of diseases

First impressions are important – they can set the stage for the entire course of a relationship. The same is true for the impressions the cells of our immune system form when they first meet a new bacterium.

24 Jul 2019

Early exposure to farm animals may lead to robust immune system development

Getting up close - and a little dirty - with farm animals just might help us fend off illness, say researchers who've further demonstrated the benefits of early exposure to a wide variety of environmental bacteria.

23 Jul 2019

Scientists use AI to improve diagnosis and monitoring of rare eye condition

Fight for Sight is funding research by scientists from universities and hospitals in Birmingham and London using artificial intelligence to extract ‘hidden’ information from retinal images of patients with a rare eye condition called birdshot uveitis.

23 Jul 2019

Researchers identify encephalitis as rare toxicity of immunotherapy treatment

After a cancer patient receiving an immunotherapy developed encephalitis and died 18 months into treatment, researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigated why the complication occurred, performing a molecular analysis of the disease's pathology and mining data to determine the incidence of similar occurrences.

22 Jul 2019

Better funding for evidence-based treatments will improve health of chronic pain sufferers

Chronic pain affects one in five Australians, rising to one in three for those aged over 65. Its impact on individuals, families and the wider community can’t be overestimated.

22 Jul 2019

New organic molecule could become potent weapon in the fight against antibiotic resistance

An organic molecule composed of simple sugars could become a potent weapon in the fight against rising antibiotic resistance, according to EU-funded researchers who have developed a novel, targeted drug-delivery technique to treat deadly tuberculosis and other lethal pathogens.

21 Jul 2019

Disruption of immune cell behavior may spur heart disease, heart failure

On an ice hockey team, the players all start off with identical uniforms, skates and a stick. But if you take one of them, add padding, a glove, and a mask; and switch the stick to one with a larger blade, then you get a goalie.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 19 Jul 2019

Receptor in the uterus can detect sperm molecule, aids in sperm survival

Why does it take 200 million sperms to fertilize a single egg? The single sperm that reached the finished line has successfully survived multiple checkpoints within the female reproductive tract, dubbed as pre-fertilization events. Now, a new study shows that the uterus contains receptors that facilitate sperm survival.

19 Jul 2019

Study uncovers gene that hides tumor cells from immunotherapy

A team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified a gene that could make immunotherapy treatments, specifically checkpoint inhibitors, work for a wider variety of cancer patients.

19 Jul 2019

Strong family bonding improves helps child's asthma

Want to help your child deal with asthma better? A new Northwestern University study says one way is to build a sturdy sense of family bonding, especially in dangerous neighborhoods.

18 Jul 2019

Study reveals how aggressive prostate cancer metastasizes by evading the immune system

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered how an aggressive form of prostate cancer called double-negative prostate cancer (DNPC) metastasizes by evading the the immune system.

18 Jul 2019

Study shows link between gut microbiome health and successful joint replacement

Having healthy gut flora - the trillions of bacteria housed in our intestines - could lower the risk of infection following knee and hip replacement surgeries, while an unhealthy intestinal flora may increase the risk of infection.

18 Jul 2019

Getting rid of chronic infections by waking up sleeping bacteria

Researchers in the group of Jan Michiels (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology) identified a mechanism of how sleepy bacteria wake up.

18 Jul 2019

Cancer stem cells elude the body's immune cells by deactivating danger detector

Acute myeloid leukemia stem cells elude the body's immune cells by deactivating a danger detector. The underlying mechanisms and the potential new therapeutic approaches that this gives rise to have been detailed in the journal Nature by researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel in collaboration with colleagues in Germany.

18 Jul 2019

Light at last: why do more women develop Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia in many older people, but it seems to affect twice as many women as men. Scientists have long tried to find out why this is so, and why it seems to follow a fast-track course in women.

18 Jul 2019

Mothers with gestational diabetes transferring harmful 'forever chemicals' to their fetus

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts have found that pregnant women with gestational diabetes have a higher rate of passing on harmful synthetic chemicals called PFAS (17 - per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to their unborn babies and thus risking their health.

17 Jul 2019

Gut infection can lead to a pathology resembling Parkinson's disease

A new study by Montreal scientists published today in Nature demonstrates that a gut infection can lead to a pathology resembling Parkinson's disease in a mouse model lacking a gene linked to the human disease.

17 Jul 2019

Dry cracked skin of eczema patients promotes 'atopic march'

Infants who develop eczema are more likely to develop food allergies, hay fever and asthma as they grow older, a progression known as the atopic march.

17 Jul 2019