Immune System News and Research

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Researchers show how highly contagious norovirus infection starts in mice

Norovirus – the highly contagious gastrointestinal illness best known for spreading rapidly on cruise chips, in nursing homes, schools and other densely populated spaces – kills an estimated 200,000 people annually, mostly in the developing world.

12 Apr 2018

Researchers get one step closer to creating peptide vaccine against atherosclerosis

In the disease atherosclerosis, cholesterol-containing plaques form in vessel walls, causing arteries to narrow and greatly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

12 Apr 2018

Breast cancers more likely to spread after surgery finds study

Breast cancer patients are more likely to experience a return and spread of their cancer within 18 months after a mastectomy or removal of the breast tumour along with healthy breast tissues. The reason for this or this association has been hitherto unexplained. According to a new study from MIT and the Whitehead Institute, the process of healing of the surgical scar after surgery is the cause for spread of the cancer.

12 Apr 2018

Scientists developing new vaccines against heroin and prescription opioids

Heroin and prescription opioid abuse and fatal overdoses are a public health emergency in the United States. Vaccines offer a potential new strategy to treat opioid abuse and prevent fatal opioid overdoses.

12 Apr 2018

Ludwig scientists develop and test individualized ovarian cancer vaccine

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has shown that an entirely new type of personalized cancer vaccine induces novel, potent and clinically effective immune responses in patients receiving a combination of standard therapies for recurrent, stage III and IV ovarian cancer.

11 Apr 2018

New cancer vaccine yields promising results in clinical study

A new type of cancer vaccine has yielded promising results in an initial clinical trial conducted at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

11 Apr 2018

Nanotechnology-based treatment approach shown to be effective in mouse models of lung cancer

The most common type of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), continues to be difficult to treat, with five year survival rates of about 36 percent for stage 3A tumors.

11 Apr 2018

Nasal vaccine may suppress peanut allergy in mice, study shows

A vaccine may successfully turn off peanut allergy in mice, a new study shows.Just three monthly doses of a nasal vaccine protected the mice from allergic reactions upon exposure to peanut, according to research from the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at the University of Michigan.

11 Apr 2018

Scripps Florida researchers awarded $2.875 million to destroy common form of leukemia

Christoph Rader, PhD, associate professor at the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, has been awarded a $2.875 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop unique antibody-drug conjugates engineered to eradicate one of the most common forms of leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia

10 Apr 2018

Low and high HDL cholesterol linked to higher risk of infectious disease

Most people recognize that there is a relationship between cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease. But new research from Copenhagen University Hospital and University of Copenhagen shows that a certain kind of cholesterol might affect our health differently, that is, through a role in the immune system.

10 Apr 2018

Researchers develop new animal model to study Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a viral disease spread by ticks in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. Infection with CCHF virus is fatal in nearly one of every three cases.

9 Apr 2018

Using biomimicry for faster detection of disease outbreaks

Our immune systems are made up of billions of white blood cells searching for signs of infections and foreign invaders, ready to raise the alarm.

9 Apr 2018

Mice study reveals important role of pTreg cell population in autoimmune diabetes

In autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, some of the immune system's T cells mistakenly attack the body's own cells, while protective T regulatory cells try to defend against that attack.

6 Apr 2018

Researchers discover Tfh cell dysfunction in HIV-infected patients

A team of chemical and biomedical engineers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, have discovered that HIV-infected patients experience a dysfunction in a certain type of immune cell: the follicular helper T (Tfh) cell.

6 Apr 2018

Negative fateful life events appear to accelerate brain aging, study finds

Conflict, a death in the family, financial hardship and serious medical crises are all associated with accelerated physical aging. In a new study, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that such negative fateful life events -- or FLEs -- appear to also specifically accelerate aging in the brain.

5 Apr 2018

Study provides systematic view of gene enhancer activity in diverse tumors

At the heart of any cancer diagnosis or treatment are cells. If one thinks of the cell components controlling gene activation as a Russian nesting-doll of gene regulatory layers, within those increasingly smaller tiers are short pieces of non-coding DNA called enhancers.

5 Apr 2018