Macrophage News and Research

RSS

A macrophage is a type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells.

Protein p62 acts as molecular brake to keep inflammation in check, avoid collateral damage

Inflammation is a Catch-22: the body needs it to eliminate invasive organisms and foreign irritants, but excessive inflammation can harm healthy cells, contributing to aging and sometimes leading to organ failure and death. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a protein known as p62 acts as a molecular brake to keep inflammation in check and avoid collateral damage.

26 Feb 2016

Scientists find that lifespan of supportive cells in tumor may control cancer metastasis

Researchers have discovered that eliminating cells thought to aid tumor growth did not slow or halt the growth of cancer tumors. In fact, when the cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), were eliminated after 10 days, the risk of metastasis of the primary tumor to the lungs and bones of mice increased dramatically.

22 Feb 2016

DEK gene present in plasma can help predict outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have discovered that a human cancer-causing gene, called DEK, can be detected in the plasma of head and neck cancer patients. DEK may help doctors understand how a person's immune system could be used to treat cancer or predict outcomes for patients.

18 Feb 2016

Specialised white blood cell in birds can destroy fatal fungal infection

Scientists have discovered that a specialised white blood cell found in birds can destroy a potentially fatal fungal infection which affects more than one million people every year.

18 Feb 2016

Wistar researchers find potential way for using STAT3 inhibitors to stop cancer progression

Imagine developing a drug designed to inhibit a protein that helps cancer cells proliferate and survive only to find that the drug does not perform very well in the clinic. This was the dilemma faced by scientists researching inhibitors of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3), a protein that controls transcription by the STAT3 gene.

17 Feb 2016

New UNC School of Medicine study shows how some bacteria can spread throughout the body

Bacteria have evolved thousands of clever tactics for invading our bodies while evading our natural defenses. Now, UNC School of Medicine scientists studying one of the world's most virulent pathogens and a separate very common bacterium have discovered a new way that some bacteria can spread rapidly throughout the body - by hitchhiking on our own immune cells.

16 Feb 2016

MGH study reveals effects of obesity on pancreatic and breast cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of obesity to promote cancer progression. In their report published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the research team describes finding an association between obesity and an overabundance of a factor called PlGF (placental growth factor) and that PlGF's binding to its receptor VEGFR-1, which is expressed on immune cells within tumors, promotes tumor progression.

12 Feb 2016

Neutrophils promote cardiac repair

Following an acute heart attack, immune cells called neutrophils coordinate an inflammatory response which can exacerbate the damage to the organ. Now researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have shown that neutrophils also promote cardiac repair.

11 Feb 2016

UIC researchers discover molecular switch that allows salmonella bacteria to fight immune system

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular regulator that allows salmonella bacteria to switch from actively causing disease to lurking in a chronic but asymptomatic state called a biofilm.

7 Feb 2016

Study identifies potential therapeutic targets for treatment of multiple sclerosis

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory diseases may benefit by new findings from a study that identified potential therapeutic targets for a devastating disease striking some 2.3 million people worldwide.

26 Jan 2016

Neurons protect intestinal tissue from over-inflammation

The immune system exercises constant vigilance to protect the body from external threats--including what we eat and drink. A careful balancing act plays out as digested food travels through the intestine. Immune cells must remain alert to protect against harmful pathogens like Salmonella, but their activity also needs to be tempered since an overreaction can lead to too much inflammation and permanent tissue damage.

25 Jan 2016

MGH researchers find how metformin drug prevents progression of pancreatic cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of the diabetes drug metformin to inhibit the progression of pancreatic cancer.

17 Jan 2016

Malaysian scientists join forces with Harvard experts to help revolutionize lung disease treatment

Malaysian scientists are joining forces with Harvard University experts to help revolutionize the treatment of lung diseases -- the delivery of nanomedicine deep into places otherwise impossible to reach.

12 Jan 2016

Drexel biomedical engineer identifies immune cell as potential strategy for growing blood vessels

In what could be a pivotal step toward repairing non-healing wounds and damaged organs, a Drexel University biomedical engineer has identified an immune cell as a potential strategy for growing blood vessels.

7 Jan 2016

Scientists demonstrate workings of CCL2 mechanism that stimulates nerve regeneration

The peripheral nervous system is a vast network of nerves that exists primarily outside of brain and spinal cord and connects to the far reaches of the body. The very expanse of peripheral nerves makes them highly vulnerable to injuries such as blunt-force blows, cuts, and leg and arm fractures, as well as diseases that attack peripheral nerves such as diabetes, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

6 Jan 2016

Infusing small dose of cytokine can prevent or reverse diabetes-related kidney failure

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, and scientists have found that infusing just a small dose of a cytokine, thought to help cause that failure, can instead prevent or reverse it.

29 Dec 2015

New footage shows how AIDS vaccine candidate recruits immune cells to destroy infected cells

Using innovative technology, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm have filmed in vivo the process by which an AIDS vaccine candidate, developed by the French Vaccine Research Institute and the ANRS, triggers the immune response.

23 Dec 2015

Small airway-on-a-chip enables analysis of human COPD and asthma

A research team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University leveraged its organ-on-a-chip technology to develop a model of the human small airway in which lung inflammatory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the third leading cause of mortality worldwide, and asthma can be studied outside the human body.

22 Dec 2015

Nuvo Research announces topline results from WF10 Phase 2 trial for treatment of allergic rhinitis

Nuvo Research Inc., a life sciences company with growing revenues and a diverse portfolio of topical products, today announced the results of its investigational Phase 2 clinical trial of WF10 (Trial) for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

21 Dec 2015

Cancer drug may protect kidneys from damage caused by chemotherapy agent cisplatin

A class of drugs used increasingly to help fight cancer may have the additional benefit of protecting the kidneys when packaged with the powerful chemotherapy agent cisplatin.

16 Dec 2015