Antibody News and Research

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An antibody is a blood protein that is produced in response to and counteracts an antigen. Antibodies are produced in response to disease and help the body fight against the particular disease. In this way, antibodies help the body develop an immunity to disease.

Experimental vector vaccine reduces stillbirths from cytomegalovirus

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.

21 Feb 2007

New test identifies suitable lymphoma patients likely to respond to new therapy

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a genetic signature identifying cases of lymphoma that are uniquely susceptible to a newly developed molecular targeted therapy. As a result, physicians organizing clinical trials of the new therapy will be able to enroll patients who'll be most likely to benefit from it.

20 Feb 2007

How DNA is packed

The life cycles of many viruses include a self-assembly stage in which a powerful molecular motor must pack the DNA genome into the virus's preformed shell (the capsid). How it manages this intricate feat has been subject to debate, but we know that the DNA passes into the capsid shell through a channel formed by a structure called the connector. Scientists have speculated that rotation of the connector complex might feed the DNA into the capsid as it turns.

20 Feb 2007

More convenient and less invasive screening tests needed for colon cancer

Colon cancer screening rates continue to lag behind those for breast and cervical cancer.

20 Feb 2007

More evidence that inflammation can fuel cancer

As evidence mounts that the body's normally protective inflammation response can drive some precancerous tissues to become fully malignant, UCSF scientists report discovering an apparent trigger to this potentially deadly process.

19 Feb 2007

Scientists discover vulnerable area on HIV that could lead to development of HIV/AIDS vaccine

Scientists on Wednesday announced they had identified a vulnerable area on HIV that might be susceptible to antibodies and could prevent the virus from infecting human cells, Reuters Health reports. The findings are published in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Nature.

19 Feb 2007

Nasal spray vaccine gives kids more protection from flu than shots

In a new study involving thousands of children across the world, a new version of the nasal spray vaccine FluMist has been found to be more effective at preventing influenza than traditional flu shots.

18 Feb 2007

Vasectomy linked to dementia

Researchers in the United States have linked male sterilization surgery to a certain form of dementia.

14 Feb 2007

Seasonal flu vaccine offers some protection from H5N1

The yearly influenza vaccine that health officials urge people to get each fall might also offer certain individuals some cross protection against the H5N1 virus commonly known as bird flu, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

13 Feb 2007

Vasectomy and trouble with words

Northwestern University researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who are cognitively normal.

13 Feb 2007

DNA-encoded antibody libraries

During the past several years, breakthroughs in genomic and proteomic technologies have enabled researchers to more clearly identify the biochemical networks that malfunction when a healthy cell becomes malignant.

12 Feb 2007

Cancer breakthrough - first treatment to directly target tumor supply

For the first time, physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City have demonstrated in patients the ability of an antibody to directly target the blood supply of a wide variety of tumors, leaving healthy tissues unharmed.

12 Feb 2007

Prospective cardiac monitoring in fetuses at risk of congenital heart block

There is an increased risk of fetal heart problems when mothers carry particular antibodies associated with rheumatic diseases, according to an abstract presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference in San Francisco.

11 Feb 2007

Scientists find connection between nerve cells and immune system

A direct connection exists between the brain and the immune system – at least in mice. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig conducted a comprehensive study of mice intestine and the surrounding blood and lymph vessels using special microscopy and marking techniques.

11 Feb 2007

Scientists discover master switches for adult blood stem cells

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found a set of "master switches" that keep adult blood-forming stem cells in their primitive state.

8 Feb 2007

Fighting influenza with 40,000 blood samples

Four million people die every year from respiratory diseases such as viral influenza. For elderly people in particular, an infection can be dangerous. What is more, the flu vaccine is not as effective with this risk group as it is with younger people.

7 Feb 2007

Research helps explain origin of self-reactive B cells

Doctors have long wondered why, in some people, the immune system turns against parts of the body it is designed to protect, leading to autoimmune disease.

7 Feb 2007

13 new AIDS vaccine clinical trials initiated in 2006

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative's (IAVI) January 2007 Annual Issue of VAX, an editorially independent bulletin on AIDS vaccine research published by IAVI, reports that 13 new preventive AIDS vaccine trials were initiated in eight countries around the world in 2006.

6 Feb 2007

New type of nanoparticle created by spray pyrolysis

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have created a new type of nanoparticle that could be used in tests for medical diagnostics, environmental pollution, and contamination of food products.

5 Feb 2007

Bright quantum dots help basic cancer biology studies

Though there is little doubt that nanoscale devices are going to play a critical role in improving cancer detection and treatment over the next five to ten years, nanoparticles are already having a major impact on the way that cancer biologists study the processes that go awry within malignant and metastatic cells.

5 Feb 2007