Antibodies News and Research

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Tarvacin shows significant anti-viral activity

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals today announced that there will be two presentations, April 4 and 6, at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) annual meeting in San Diego, California, indicating the anti-viral potential of its Tarvacin antibody. Dr. Melina Soares of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will present pre-clinical data titled "Targeting inside-out phospholipids on viruses in a guinea pig model of Lassa fever."

4 Apr 2005

Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) blocking agents cause skin disease

Members of the second most important family of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can cause serious dermatological conditions in a quarter of patients under treatment, reveals a study published in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.

3 Apr 2005

Stress may enhance the body's ability to fight the flu

Short bouts of intense social stress improved the ability in the mice to recover from the flu. The stress apparently did so by substantially boosting the production of specialized immune cells that fought the virus.

3 Apr 2005

Surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus

Since 2000, U.S. infants have been routinely immunized against pneumococcal (Streptococcus pneumoniae) infection. Now, Boston researchers have made a surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus.

29 Mar 2005

New color-coded test for protein folding

Every protein--from albumin to testosterone--is folded into a unique, three-dimensional shape that allows it to function properly. Now Stanford University scientists have developed a simple test that instantly changes color when a protein molecule attached to a gold nanoparticle folds or unfolds.

28 Mar 2005

New therapy for treating cat allergies looks promising

Andrew Saxon, M.D., and a team of researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that a molecule designed to block cat allergies can prevent allergic reactions in laboratory mice and was also successful when tested on human cells in a test tube.

28 Mar 2005

New insights into Pemphigus

Pemphigus is a deadly skin blistering disease that occurs when patients' produce antibodies that attack proteins in their own cells – called autoantibodies.

28 Mar 2005

Antibodies from tobacco plants protect against anthrax

Scientists have produced, in tobacco plants, human antibodies that could be used to treat anthrax exposure. They reported their findings at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Biodefense Research Meeting.

23 Mar 2005

Discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells

Scientists here have made a major discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells, powerful but somewhat mysterious components of the body’s immune system that are the first line of defense against cancer and infectious diseases.

23 Mar 2005

Chemists say they have identified a gene that appears to play a key role in the development of type 1 diabetes

In the current study, the researchers focused on the formation of the MIF protein (macrophage migration inhibitory factor), a proinflammatory protein that they showed in previous studies is elevated in diabetic animals and may be involved in the cascade of immunological events that leads to the destruction of the pancreas and the subsequent onset of type 1 diabetes.

21 Mar 2005

Study indicating that gastric acid inhibitors can provoke food allergies

The research team of Dr. Erika Jensen-Jarolim from the Medizinische Universität Wien (Vienna Medical University) was named winner this past weekend of the ADF/ECARF Award for European Allergy Research for a study indicating that gastric acid inhibitors can provoke food allergies.

8 Mar 2005

Who would have thought we needed to study men for a cancer that targets women?

Who would have thought we needed to study men for a cancer that targets women? Anna Giuliano, Ph.D., at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, is doing just that in an investigation concerning the human papillomavirus (HPV).

7 Mar 2005

Some immune cells are smarter than others killing more cancer

In efforts to educate the body to fight off cancer, researchers have found that some immune cells are "smarter" than others. Working with collections of human cells, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists tested kill-rates of two kinds of T-cells "primed" to home in on myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. Those that live in the bone marrow outperformed their counterparts circulating in the blood by more than 90 percent.

1 Mar 2005

Study first to document increase risk of herpes infection due to oral sex, particularly in young women

The first clinical study to document risk of acquiring herpes simplex virus type 1 infection based on sexual activity has linked oral sex and vaginal intercourse with a demonstrably higher rate of infection, particularly in young women, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh report in the February issue of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.

28 Feb 2005

Discovery of a protein JBP2, an important tool for African sleeping sickness research

Sixty million people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa are threatened daily by a deadly parasitic disease known as African sleeping sickness.

28 Feb 2005

People with osteoporosis should be screened for celiac disease

Results of a new study suggest that the higher prevalence of celiac disease in individuals with osteoporosis than in the general population may justify screening of patients with osteoporosis for celiac disease, according to an article in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

28 Feb 2005

Up to 500,000 Americans will develop lupus-related kidney disease

According to the Lupus Foundation of America, an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Americans with the autoimmune disease lupus eventually will develop lupus-related kidney disease, known as lupus nephritis. Lupus nephritis is one of the most serious manifestations of lupus and can lead to serious health problems, kidney failure, disability or death.

27 Feb 2005

New HIV screening method, nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT)

Adding a new HIV screening method, called nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT), to standard HIV testing, researchers were able to uncover six percent more cases of HIV infection in urban STD and drug treatment clinics and HIV testing sites in Atlanta than with standard HIV antibody tests alone.

27 Feb 2005

Scientists identify immune-system mutation

A team of Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists led by immunologist Dietmar J. Kappes, Ph.D., has identified the genetic mutation that keeps a mouse strain from developing white blood cells, or lymphocytes, called helper T cells. The report by Kappes and his colleagues appears in the Feb. 24 issue of Nature.

27 Feb 2005

Dual testing better for monitoring new cases of HIV

Johns Hopkins researchers will present results showing that tighter, dual testing standards work better for accurately distinguishing between new and old cases of HIV.

27 Feb 2005