Immune Response News and Research

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Researchers generate artificial thymus tissue to enable T cell maturation

The thymus plays a key role in the body's immune response. It is here where the T lymphocytes or T cells, a major type of immune defence cells, mature. Different types of T cells, designated to perform specific tasks, arise from progenitor cells that migrate to the thymus from the bone marrow. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have generated artificial thymus tissue in a mouse embryo to enable the maturation of immune cells.

30 Mar 2012

ProImmune introduces Special Assay Service

ProImmune Ltd., a leader in services for understanding immune responses, has launched a new Special Assay Service, providing unique, bespoke immunological assays, based on ProImmune's broad ranging proprietary platform technologies, to meet customers' assay needs.

29 Mar 2012

NY-ESO-1 vaccine shows promise against ovarian cancer, melanoma

An immunotherapy regimen incorporating poxviruses and targeting a particular tumor antigen, NY-ESO-1, has shown promise in treating two types of cancers.

27 Mar 2012

USPTO issues patent to Inovio's SynCon H1N1 influenza vaccine

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 8,133,723, covering Inovio's SynCon universal vaccine related to H1N1 influenza.

26 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI is safe in patients with MS

Researchers who investigated the connection between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (a reported condition characterized as a blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain and spinal cord and returns it to the heart) and multiple sclerosis indicate that a minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI, is safe and may produce "significant," short-term improvement in physical- and mental health-related quality of life in individuals with MS.

26 Mar 2012

Researchers pinpoint new mechanism that potently activates T-cells in leprosy

UCLA researchers pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T-cells, the group of white blood cells that play a major role in fighting infections.

26 Mar 2012

Human Immunity to Tuberculosis conference to take place from April 13-14

Leading international experts in tuberculosis and related diseases from at least 10 countries will gather at a Human Immunity to Tuberculosis conference April 13-14 in Atlanta. The meeting will take place at the Emory Conference Center, 1615 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329.

23 Mar 2012

CBSM intervention can alter tumor-promoting processes in women with breast cancer

A team of researchers led by Michael H. Antoni, director of the Center for Psycho-Oncology Research at the University of Miami (UM) has shown that a stress management program tailored to women with breast cancer can alter tumor-promoting processes at the molecular level. The new study recently published in the journal Biological Psychiatry is one of the first to link psychological intervention with genetic expression in cancer patients.

22 Mar 2012

New method for in vivo study of unknown selenium metabolism

Spanish and Danish researchers have developed a method for the in vivo study of the unknown metabolism of selenium, an essential element for living beings. The technique can help clarify whether or not it possesses the anti-tumour properties that have been attributed to it and yet have not been verified through clinical trials.

22 Mar 2012

BPA alters uterus structure leading to potentially fatal infection

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found evidence that, in addition to affecting the heart, brain and nervous system, bisphenol A (BPA), could affect a mammal's ability to reproduce by altering the structure of the uterus in ways that can progress to a potentially fatal infection.

21 Mar 2012

New perspective on why the immune system makes us worse while trying to make us well

A new article in The Quarterly Review of Biology helps explain why the immune system often makes us worse while trying to make us well.

21 Mar 2012

Disruptions in immune system regulation may play a role in NEC

Despite advances in neonatal care, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) - the most common gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants - continues to be a deadly disease. "We haven't made a lot of progress in identifying babies early who may be at risk for NEC, preventing it or treating it," said J-rn-Hendrik Weitkamp, M.D., a neonatologist and assistant professor of Pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

20 Mar 2012

Paper describes results of BMT in models of Rett Syndrome

A paper published online today in Nature describes the results of using bone marrow transplant (BMT) to replace faulty immune system cells in models of Rett Syndrome. The procedure arrested many severe symptoms of the childhood disorder, including abnormal breathing and movement, and significantly extended the lifespan of Rett mouse models.

19 Mar 2012

Klf4 protein an important regulator of inflammation: HNK study

Microglia are the first line defence of the brain and are constantly looking for infections to fight off. Overactive microglia can cause uncontrolled inflammation within the brain, which can in turn lead to neuronal damage. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Journal of Neuroinflammation shows that, honokiol (HNK) is able to down-regulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory enzymes in activated microglia via Klf4, a protein known to regulate DNA.

19 Mar 2012

Kyolic AGE may reduce duration of cold and flu symptoms by 61%

Americans looking to impact their cold and flu symptoms this season may have a new weapon at their disposal. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study just published by the University of Florida determined that Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) may reduce the duration of symptoms associated with common colds or flus by as much as 61 percent.

16 Mar 2012

Two awards to advance pancreatic cancer research

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research have awarded Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, the 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants.

16 Mar 2012

OHRI, uOttawa to lead first stem cell therapy trial for septic shock

A team of researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has been awarded $367,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and $75,000 from the Stem Cell Network to lead the first clinical trial in the world of a stem cell therapy for septic shock.

16 Mar 2012

Study identifies 190 proteins crucial to the functions of key immune sensors

In a healthy immune system, invading pathogens trigger a cascade of alerts and responses to fight off the infection. Sensors called toll-like receptors, or TLRs, act as one of the first lines of defense. Two of these sensors, known as TLR7 and TLR9, specifically recognize and respond to microbial RNA and DNA, respectively. But what determines how these TLRs get where they need to be and sound the alarm for pathogen infection?

15 Mar 2012

Researchers discover how Salmonella thrives in the digestive tract

UC Irvine researchers have discovered how Salmonella, a bacterium found in contaminated raw foods that causes major gastrointestinal distress in humans, thrives in the digestive tract despite the immune system's best efforts to destroy it.

15 Mar 2012

Antibody-based therapies successfully protect monkeys from deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses

Army scientists have demonstrated, for the first time, that antibody-based therapies can successfully protect monkeys from the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses. In addition, the animals were fully protected even when treatment was administered two days post-infection, an accomplishment unmatched by any experimental therapy for these viruses to date.

14 Mar 2012