immunity News and Research

RSS

Federal funding for partnership to combat infectious diseases

Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Washington, along with a number of partner institutions across the Northwest, have received federal funding to form a regional research center aimed at combating emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases that pose a serious threat to human health.

15 Apr 2009

Vaccine for Enterotoxigenic E. coli developed

A Michigan State University researcher has developed a working vaccine for a strain of E. coli that kills 2 million to 3 million children each year in the developing world.

14 Apr 2009

Gene targeting discovery opens door for vaccines and drugs

In a genetic leap that could help fast track vaccine and drug development to prevent or tame serious global diseases, DMS researchers have discovered how to destroy a key DNA pathway in a wily and widespread human parasite.

13 Apr 2009

Researchers reveal how immune cells can be harnessed to target melanoma

Researchers at the Babraham Institute and the University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia", Italy, co-ordinating an international network of scientists and clinicians from Europe, the USA and Japan, have identified new mechanisms through which the immune system recognises and responds to tumours like melanomas.

12 Apr 2009

Research could lead to new non-antibiotic drugs to counter hospital infections

Lack of an adequate amount of the mineral phosphate can turn a common bacterium into a killer, according to research to be published in the April 14, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

9 Apr 2009

Immune cells in skin fight off infection better than the rest

Scientists at the University of Melbourne have discovered the local action of immune cells in the skin, which could improve treatment of viral skin infections.

8 Apr 2009

Transplantation immunity breakthrough

Australian scientists have made a discovery that may one day remove the need for a lifetime of toxic immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplants.

8 Apr 2009

Breakthrough in transplant medicine

Australian scientists have made a breakthrough in transplantation immunity by finding a way of stopping the immune system from rejecting transplanted organs.

8 Apr 2009

Schizophrenics appear to rely considerably less on top-down processing during perception

Patients with schizophrenia are able to correctly see through an illusion known as the 'hollow mask' illusion, probably because their brain disconnects 'what the eyes see' from what 'the brain thinks it is seeing', according to a joint UK and German study published in the journal NeuroImage.

6 Apr 2009

West Nile virus studies show how star-shaped brain cells cope with infection

A new study published as the cover article for the April 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal promises to give physicians new ways to reduce deadly responses to viral infections of the brain and spinal cord.

1 Apr 2009

New insights into how brain responds to viral infection

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered that astrocytes, supportive cells in the brain that are not derived from an immune cell lineage, respond to a molecule that mimics a viral infection using cellular machinery similar to that used by classical immune cells in the blood.

1 Apr 2009

Quantum Immunologics announces the filing of two important provisional patent applications

Quantum Immunologics, Inc. (QI), a Florida-based company specializing in cancer immunotherapy, has recently filed two provisional patent applications relating to their work in cancer immunotherapy.

31 Mar 2009

Moonlighting immune molecules found in the brain

Molecules assumed to be in the exclusive employ of the immune system have been caught moonlighting in the brain - with a job description apparently quite distinct from their role in immunity.

30 Mar 2009

New, more effective nisin antibiotics combat superbugs and food diseases

Researchers at University College Cork have used bioengineering to produce a new generation of natural antibiotics that target harmful micro-organisms such as MRSA and the food-borne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes

30 Mar 2009

Intestinal parasites significantly reduce immune response to the cholera toxin

Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a report published March 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Gene scan shows body's sleep cycle influences numerous physical functions

The pineal gland - integral to setting the body's sleep and wake cycles - may be involved in a broad range of bodily functions, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

30 Mar 2009

New tuberculosis vaccine effective in animal testing

A new tuberculosis vaccine candidate developed by researchers at Canada's McMaster University has proven effective in animal testing, the researchers announced Thursday, the Hamilton Spectator reports.

23 Mar 2009

New TB vaccine developed using a genetically modified adenovirus

McMaster University researchers are about to launch Canada's first tuberculosis (TB) vaccine clinical trial with a vaccine totally designed, manufactured and tested within McMaster.

20 Mar 2009

Paradigm shift in the regulation of immune response

Over the past decade various pieces of the puzzle how signal transmission controls immunity have been coming together.

20 Mar 2009

Experimental vaccine shows promise in preventing cytomegalovirus infection

Each year, approximately 8,000 infants in the United States develop severe hearing, mental or movement impairments after becoming infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus passed onto them while still in the womb.

19 Mar 2009