Immune System News and Research

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MGH, MIT researchers reveal how the brain controls different sleep states

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have added another piece to the complex puzzle of how the brain controls one of the most essential functions - sleep.

4 Feb 2015

Anti-viral immune cells could inhibit bone marrow transplant infections caused by CMV

Bone marrow transplantation is a life-saving therapy for patients with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma. However, the depletion of the patient's immune system prior to transplantation can put patients at risk of for an infection by a virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) that can be life threatening in these immune-compromised individuals.

4 Feb 2015

Research findings could improve fight against some infections, auto-immune diseases

A team of international scientists has discovered a new mechanism by which immune cells in the skin function as the body's 'border control', revealing how these cells sense whether lipid or fat-like molecules might indicate the presence of foreign invaders.

4 Feb 2015

Research opens door to development of new therapies to block HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

While antiretroviral therapies have significantly improved and extended the lives of many HIV patients, another insidious and little discussed threat looms for aging sufferers - HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The disorders, which strike more often in HIV patients over age 50, can result in cognitive impairment, mild to severe, making everyday tasks a challenge.

3 Feb 2015

New study helps explain how booster shots trigger immune 'memory' to improve

The last time you were in the doctor's office for a vaccine booster shot, did you wonder why you needed one? Exactly how booster shots offer long-term protection from viruses has long been a mystery to scientists.

3 Feb 2015

Large clinical trial to assess safety, efficacy of two experimental Ebola vaccines opens in Liberia

A large clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of two experimental vaccines to prevent Ebola virus infection is now open to volunteers in Liberia. The trial is being led by a recently formed Liberia-U.S. clinical research partnership and is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

3 Feb 2015

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia invited to Obama's announcement of Precision Medicine Initiative

At the invitation of the White House, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) sent two special guests to President Barack Obama's announcement today of the Precision Medicine Initiative: Dr. Steven M. Altschuler, CHOP's chief executive officer, and 9-year-old patient Emily Whitehead, now cancer-free thanks to a personalized treatment called T cell therapy, developed at CHOP.

2 Feb 2015

Research shows olfactory proxy detection is a phenomenon in both insects and humans

Antioxidants are natural food ingredients that protect cells from harmful influences. Their main task is to neutralize so-called "free radicals" which are produced in the process of oxidation and which are responsible for cell degeneration.

2 Feb 2015

Researchers gain new insight on immune cells that harbor latent HIV virus

Drugs for HIV have become adept at suppressing infection, but they still can't eliminate it. That's because the medication in these pills doesn't touch the virus' hidden reserves, which lie dormant within infected white blood cells. Unlock the secrets of this pool of latent virus, scientists believe, and it may become possible to cure - not just control - HIV.

2 Feb 2015

Study identifies genetic basis of drug toxicity in leukemia patients of East Asian ancestry

January 26, 2015) About 10 percent of young leukemia patients of East Asian ancestry inherit a gene variation that is associated with reduced tolerance of a drug that is indispensable for curing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer.

2 Feb 2015

Some genetic features associated with modern diseases are ancient

Psoriasis, a chronic skin condition, can cause rashes that itch and sting. So why would a genetic susceptibility to this and other ailments persist for hundreds of thousands of years, afflicting our ancient ancestors, and us?

31 Jan 2015

No single global optimal solution for deimmunization of a given biotherapeutic agent

By establishing protein design algorithms that simultaneously optimize drug candidates for both decreased immunogenic epitope content and high level stability and activity, Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center investigator Karl Griswold, PhD, and his collaborator Chris Bailey-Kellogg, PhD, have established a novel testing platform.

31 Jan 2015

VG Life Sciences issues patent relating to treatment of IBD through CLIP-inducing agent

VG Life Sciences, (VGLS), a biotechnology company developing therapies for autoimmune and infectious diseases, today announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 8906846, covering a method of treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through the administration of a CLIP-inducing agent.

31 Jan 2015

Two researchers receive Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research

Researchers Irving L. Weissman and Joan Massagué have won this year's Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research: Weissman, from Stanford University, for his work on healthy and sick stem cells; Massagué, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, for his research on metastatic spread.

31 Jan 2015

Blood tests for Chikungunya virus and rheumatoid arthritis could produce similar results

A mosquito-borne virus that has spread to the Caribbean and Central and South America and has caused isolated infections in Florida often causes joint pain and swelling similar to that seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

31 Jan 2015

Using antioxidant to reverse brain inflammation improves obesity, diabetes symptoms

Using an antioxidant to reverse inflammation in the brain caused by a high-fat diet greatly improves symptoms related to obesity and type II diabetes, a new study from New Zealand's University of Otago suggests.

30 Jan 2015

Researchers identify molecular pathways that could lead to new therapeutic targets for cerebral malaria

A drug already approved for treating other diseases may be useful as a treatment for cerebral malaria, according to researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. They discovered a novel link between food intake during the early stages of infection and the outcome of the disease, identifying two molecular pathways that could serve as new targets for treatment.

30 Jan 2015

UAB doctor says measles can be halted with safe, effective measles vaccine

An ongoing, multistate measles outbreak linked to a California amusement park has already caused 68 confirmed cases between Jan. 1 and 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

30 Jan 2015

Immunotherapy expert discusses the concept of precision immunology and personalized medicine

With President Obama's recent State of the Union speech addressing the launch of a national precision medicine initiative to further tackle cancer and other diseases, a leading immunotherapy expert from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey weighs in on where we stand with precision immunology and personalized medicine and what needs to be accomplished.

30 Jan 2015

Gluten-free diet important for people with celiac disease

You'd never suspect it from the proliferation of gluten-free items on supermarket shelves. Yet only one in approximately 133 people - that's 0.75 percent of the population - has celiac disease, a genetic autoimmune disorder that causes the body to react negatively to the intake of gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and their derivatives.

29 Jan 2015

Immune System News and Research

MGH, MIT researchers reveal how the brain controls different sleep states

Anti-viral immune cells could inhibit bone marrow transplant infections caused by CMV

Research findings could improve fight against some infections, auto-immune diseases

Research opens door to development of new therapies to block HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

New study helps explain how booster shots trigger immune 'memory' to improve

Large clinical trial to assess safety, efficacy of two experimental Ebola vaccines opens in Liberia

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia invited to Obama's announcement of Precision Medicine Initiative

Research shows olfactory proxy detection is a phenomenon in both insects and humans

Researchers gain new insight on immune cells that harbor latent HIV virus

Study identifies genetic basis of drug toxicity in leukemia patients of East Asian ancestry

Some genetic features associated with modern diseases are ancient

No single global optimal solution for deimmunization of a given biotherapeutic agent

VG Life Sciences issues patent relating to treatment of IBD through CLIP-inducing agent

Two researchers receive Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research

Blood tests for Chikungunya virus and rheumatoid arthritis could produce similar results

Using antioxidant to reverse brain inflammation improves obesity, diabetes symptoms

Researchers identify molecular pathways that could lead to new therapeutic targets for cerebral malaria

UAB doctor says measles can be halted with safe, effective measles vaccine

Immunotherapy expert discusses the concept of precision immunology and personalized medicine

Gluten-free diet important for people with celiac disease

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