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EKF Molecular Diagnostics collaborates with ANGLE for liquid biopsy development using Parsortix and PointMan technologies

EKF Molecular Diagnostics has agreed a collaboration with specialist medtech company ANGLE plc, to investigate the combination of ANGLE's Parsortix circulating tumour cell (CTC) harvesting platform with EKF Molecular's PointMan™ DNA enrichment technology as a liquid biopsy. If successful, the resulting simple blood test could enable the investigation of unexpected ultra-low level mutations in a patient's cancer for personalised cancer care.

29 Jan 2015

New research could help pave way to new cancer therapies

New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that the most common form of white blood cells, called neutrophils, contain many different subtypes, of which some fight the development of cancer and others promote its progression. The research could help pave the way to new therapies that fight cancer by increasing anti-tumor neutrophils while limiting pro-tumor neutrophils.

23 Jan 2015

Researchers explore how M6P deficiency affects different kinds of immune cells

A group of white blood cells known as B cells, which play a key role in the human immune response, need a protein-targeting signal called mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) in order to proliferate, differentiate, and present immune cell-activating antigens, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers identify novel signaling pathway that triggers allergic asthma response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators in Korea and Scotland, have identified a novel signaling pathway critical to the immune response of cells associated with the initiation of allergic asthma.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers reveal link between the microbiome of young mice and later onset of autoimmune disease

Researchers have revealed that the colonization of the gut of young mice by certain types of bacteria can lead to immune responses later in life that are linked to disease.

19 Jan 2015

Study: Stem cells derived from human female amnion have anti-inflammatory effects

Stem cells derived from human amnion have for some time been considered promising for cell therapies because of their ease of access, ability to differentiate, and absence of ethical issues.

17 Jan 2015

PTEN protein helps prevent autoimmune diseases

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered that a protein widely known for suppressing tumor formation also helps prevent autoimmune diseases and other problems by putting the brakes on the immune response.

15 Jan 2015

Blast phase characteristics differ in TKI-, non-TKI–treated CML patients

Features of the blast phase, such as blast cell morphology and accompanying cytogenetic changes, vary between chronic myeloid leukaemia patients who received tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and those treated in the pre-TKI era, research shows.

12 Jan 2015

Study finds difference between results from IHC and quantitative molecular techniques

The cause of type 1 diabetes remains unknown. Several studies using immunohistochemistry (IHC) have independently reported hyperexpression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I on pancreatic islet cells in young patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Investigators have therefore suggested that HLA hyperexpression may be an important first step in the development of type 1 diabetes.

12 Jan 2015

Exposure to nanoparticles can play major role in development of cardiovascular diseases

Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Their toxicity has been researched in general terms, but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system.

8 Jan 2015

Enzymes linked to diabetes, obesity play major roles in arthritis and leukemia

Enzymes linked to diabetes and obesity appear to play key roles in arthritis and leukemia, potentially opening up new avenues for treating these diverse diseases, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

8 Jan 2015

Fat cells below skin help protect from bacteria, say researchers

When it comes to skin infections, a healthy and robust immune response may depend greatly upon what lies beneath. In a new paper published in the January 2, 2015 issue of Science, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report the surprising discovery that fat cells below the skin help protect us from bacteria.

2 Jan 2015

Study finds that binge drinking can significantly disrupt immune system

Binge drinking in young, healthy adults significantly disrupts the immune system, according to a study led by a researcher now at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

30 Dec 2014

Experimental Ebola vaccine safe and immunogenic in African population

Two experimental DNA vaccines to prevent Ebola virus and the closely related Marburg virus [1] are safe, and generated a similar immune response in healthy Ugandan adults as reported in healthy US adults earlier this year.

23 Dec 2014

Researchers devise new technique to understand how neutrophils move in bodily tissues

Neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, are the immune system's all-terrain vehicles. The cells are recruited to fight infections or injury in any tissue or organ in the body despite differences in the cellular and biochemical composition.

22 Dec 2014

Scientists identify white blood cells that tumors use to suppress disease-fighting immune system

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified the population of white blood cells that tumors use to enhance growth and suppress the disease-fighting immune system.

19 Dec 2014

Oral budesonide suspension offers hope for pediatric patients with EoE

A new formulation of oral budesonide suspension, a steroid-based treatment, is safe and effective in treating pediatric patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

19 Dec 2014

Investigational drug increases PFS in patients with advanced breast cancer

In a groundbreaking study that offers new hope for women with advanced breast cancer, researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have published final clinical trial results that showed the amount of time patients were on treatment without their cancer worsening (called progression-free survival) was effectively doubled in women with advanced breast cancer who took the experimental drug palbociclib.

17 Dec 2014

Tufts University researchers report that extra vitamin E can protect against pneumonia

Extra vitamin E protected older mice from a bacterial infection that commonly causes pneumonia. Microbiologists and nutrition researchers from Tufts University report that the extra vitamin E helped regulate the mice's immune system.