Immune System News and Research

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Excess fat in lungs may cause pulmonary fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis has no cure. It's caused by scarring that seems to feed on itself, with the tougher, less elastic tissue replacing the ever moving and stretching lung, making it increasingly difficult for patients to breathe.

20 Nov 2014

New research may help develop drug for celiac disease

Celiac disease patients suffer from gluten intolerance and must adjust to a life without gluten from food sources like wheat, rye and barley.

20 Nov 2014

Targeting bacterial motility to combat chronic respiratory disease

Mycoplasma gallisepticum causes chronic respiratory disease in birds. The illness particularly affects domestic chicken and turkey flocks. The bacteria are especially life-threatening for the animals when they occur in combination with other infections. In order to control the spread of the disease, poultry farms in the EU must be proven free from Mycoplasma gallisepticum or face being closed.

19 Nov 2014

Gene therapy transforms life for men with severe form of hemophilia B

Gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, University College London and the Royal Free Hospital has transformed life for men with a severe form of hemophilia B by providing a safe, reliable source of the blood clotting protein Factor IX that has allowed some to adopt a more active lifestyle, researchers reported.

19 Nov 2014

Three-drug regimen taken during pregnancy prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission

For HIV-infected women in good immune health, taking a three-drug regimen during pregnancy prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission more effectively than taking one drug during pregnancy, another during labor and two more after giving birth, an international clinical trial has found.

19 Nov 2014

Researchers find drug combination that reduces risk of skin graft rejection

A research team bringing together José Cohen and Philippe Grimbert (Inserm Unit 955/Université Paris Est Créteil [UPEC] and the Centre for Clinical Investigation - Biotherapies 504 [CIC-BT 504]), and their collaborators at Institut Curie and AP-HP (George Pompidou European Hospital) has succeeded in finding a combination of drugs that reduces the risk of rejection following a skin graft.

19 Nov 2014

'Spillover' of henipaviruses into humans underway, study finds

Another family of viruses, deadly in some cases, may have already jumped from fruit bats into humans in Africa, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. The study provides the first, preliminary scientific evidence that "spillover" of henipaviruses into human populations is underway.

19 Nov 2014

TSRI scientists reveal how ZMapp antibodies target Ebola virus

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have identified weak spots on the surface of Ebola virus that are targeted by the antibodies in ZMapp, the experimental drug cocktail administered to several patients during the recent Ebola outbreak.

19 Nov 2014

Moffitt announces development of innovative investigational biologic agent for MDS

In a major step to treat patients living with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), a group of diseases that affect the bone marrow and blood, Moffitt Cancer Center today announced the development of an innovative investigational biologic agent that could improve patient response and outcomes for MDS and other diseases.

18 Nov 2014

Strategy to stem infections in livestock, endangered species

When a viral infection spread through five genetically identical mice in a row, the virus replicated faster and became more virulent or severe. But when the infection spread one-by-one through five genetically diverse mice, the virus had trouble adapting and became less virulent.

18 Nov 2014

Type 3 interferons and T helper 2 cells: an interview with Grant Gallagher, Managing Director, HUMIGEN

The type 3 interferons - usually called the “lambda” interferons, or “IFNL” - are the most recently identified IFNs. We (myself and Sergei Kotenko) originally identified the receptor and then the three ligands (IFNL1,2,3; very recently a fourth, IFNL4, was discovered); the key paper was published in 2003.

18 Nov 2014

Scientists identify how ADAR1 gene mutation can lead to diseases

Scientists have discovered how a gene mutation can lead to diseases that occur when the immune system attacks the body by mistake.

18 Nov 2014

Research finding could have major implications for diabetes treatment

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers, representing five Harvard departments and affiliated institutions as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have demonstrated that adult cells, reprogrammed into another cell type in a living animal, can remain functional over a long period.

18 Nov 2014

Edison announces initiation of full coverage on ADRs of DBV Technologies

Edison Investment Research, a leading international investment research firm, announces the initiation of full coverage on the US-listed ADRs of DBV Technologies, the French allergy company focused on peanut allergy.

18 Nov 2014

TapImmune signs new collaborative research agreement with VGTI Florida

TapImmune, Inc., is pleased to announce a new collaborative research agreement with The Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute of Florida, a leading, non-profit biomedical research institute, forming a partnership to advance TapImmune's proprietary, cancer vaccines into Phase II human clinical trials for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers.

18 Nov 2014

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Juno's JCAR015 leukemia T cell product candidate

Juno Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation to its JCAR015 chimeric antigen receptor product candidate. The designation was granted for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. JCAR015 Phase I trials are currently underway at Juno's collaboration partner, Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center.

18 Nov 2014

Researchers discover second protein associated with membranous nephropathy

An international team of researchers from France, Germany, and the US have identified a protein that turns a person's immune system against itself in a form of kidney disease called membranous nephropathy (MN). The new research was presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 in Philadelphia and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Nov 2014

Johns Hopkins Medicine names eight new scholars to improve health care in India

The Center for Clinical Global Health Education at Johns Hopkins Medicine, with significant financial support from the Ujala Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation, has named eight new scholars to improve health care in India, with a particular focus on fighting tuberculosis.

18 Nov 2014

New look at the workings of HIV, other viruses

UC Davis researchers are getting a new look at the workings of HIV and other viruses thanks to new techniques in electron microscopy developed on campus.

18 Nov 2014

Nutrition treatment for older COPD patients shows better outcomes

People aged 65 and older, who were being treated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the hospital and received nutrition treatment (oral nutrition supplements) had reduced lengths of stay, hospital costs and chances of returning to the hospital within 30-days, according to a study published in CHEST.

18 Nov 2014