Immune System News and Research

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Research opens clever new way to attack cancer stem cells

Researchers are the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer are unraveling a crucial thread that explains why cancer so often becomes resistant to treatment.

3 Jul 2018

Unique virus appears to enhance our immune system rather than weakening it

Our immune system is at its peak when we're young, but after a certain age, it declines and it becomes more difficult for our bodies to fight off new infections.

3 Jul 2018

Novel, stem cell-based model mimics mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists in Dresden, Germany, have been successful in mimicking mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease in a novel, stem cell-based model system that reproduces features of human brain tissue.

3 Jul 2018

Simple DNA test can predict risk of bad side effects to thiopurine drugs

Screening a tiny section of DNA could help East Asian patients avoid severe reactions to some medications.

2 Jul 2018

Streamlining and translating basic science discoveries into the clinic

To make sure that good ideas to enhance healthcare are not lost due to a lack of resources, a growing number of centers at Penn Medicine organize forums to pitch ideas to improve medical devices and technology, hold annual competitions to fund studies to improve patient care while keeping costs down, and sponsor seed grants for programs focused on patients who need individualized tailoring of their treatment.

2 Jul 2018

Researchers discover gene that plays role in regulating body's immune response to infection

Australia's national science agency CSIRO has identified a new gene that plays a critical role in regulating the body's immune response to infection and disease.

2 Jul 2018

Scientists discover how the flu virus resets its trap

For the first time, scientists have directly visualized in real-time structural changes in the surface protein of the influenza virus that may help the virus to fuse with and enter target cells before hijacking their functions.

29 Jun 2018

Penn cancer researchers reveal secrets of 'hot' and 'cold' pancreatic tumors

So-called "hot" tumors filled with T cells are often considered to be more sensitive to immunotherapy compared to "cold" tumors with fewer T cells, but a clear demonstration of why has eluded cancer biologists--until now.

29 Jun 2018

People with co-existing HCV and AUD experience greater psychiatric, immune problems

Infection with the hepatitis C virus is a contagious liver disease with symptoms that range from mild illness for a few weeks to serious, lifelong liver problems.

28 Jun 2018

Human Vaccines Project and Seqirus collaborate to accelerate universal flu vaccine research

The Human Vaccines Project, a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on decoding the immune system to improve human health, and Seqirus, a global leader in the prevention of influenza, announced today that Seqirus is joining the Project's Universal Influenza Vaccine Initiative.

28 Jun 2018

Antidepressant drug appears to effectively stop progression of PBC

Gail Wright considered herself healthy. She had no idea she had a chronic liver disease. "I was at a routine check-up and my doctor said my liver enzymes were elevated. I was sent to a specialist but I wasn't too worried. I didn't have any symptoms."

27 Jun 2018

Researcher wins $2 million NIH grant to study immunological memory

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $2 million, five-year grant to Ken Oestreich, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, to study immunological memory.

27 Jun 2018

Scientists discover protein crucial for activating inflammation

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a protein that is crucial for activating inflammation - both the good kind of inflammation that leads to healing wounds and fighting infection, as well as excessive inflammation where the immune system can damage tissues and organs.

27 Jun 2018

Scientists create microparticles that mimic human T cells

Researchers have developed synthetic microparticles with properties and behaviors that closely mimic human T cells.

27 Jun 2018

Researchers discover immune cells that create and sustain chronic inflammatory bowel disease

In preclinical experiments, Laurie Harrington, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have discovered a subset of immune cells that create and sustain chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

27 Jun 2018

Polio virus could help brain cancer patients

According to researchers genetically altered poliovirus strains could help some patients of brain cancer. A team of researchers from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, used modified polio virus strains in small groups of patients who had glioblastoma – a particularly deadly form of brain cancer. In these patients standard treatments have failed say the researchers and this novel therapy could help.

27 Jun 2018

Experts witness action of influenza infection in the lungs of living mice

In the 1966 novel, Fantastic Voyage, written by biochemist and author Isaac Asimov, a crew of people become miniaturized in order to travel through the body of a scientist and save him from a blood clot in his brain.

26 Jun 2018

Antidepressant use in people with COPD linked to increased risk of death and hospitalization

Antidepressant use in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is associated with a 20 percent increase in likelihood of death and a 15 percent increase in likelihood of hospitalization due to related symptoms, finds a new study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

26 Jun 2018

CRISPR technique reduces repetitive behavior in fragile X syndrome mouse models

Scientists have used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to lessen some autism symptoms in mice with a form of fragile X syndrome, the most common known single-gene cause of autism spectrum disorder.

25 Jun 2018

AbbVie and Calibr collaborate to develop T-cell therapies aimed at cancer

AbbVie , a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, and Calibr, a nonprofit drug discovery division of Scripps Research, today announced a collaboration to develop T-cell therapies aimed primarily at cancer, including solid tumors.

25 Jun 2018