Immune System News and Research

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Caspase-11 enzyme plays an important role in Legionella infection

New research shows that an enzyme that has long been considered relatively useless to the immune response instead has an important role in setting up immune cells to kill infection-causing bacteria.

13 Jun 2012

Transgenic mosquitoes can control malaria

Mosquitoes bred to be unable to infect people with the malaria parasite are an attractive approach to helping curb one of the world's most pressing public health issues, according to UC Irvine scientists.

13 Jun 2012

Billions of specific gut bacteria may play a role in autoimmune diseases

The billions of bugs in our guts have a newfound role: regulating the immune system and related autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

13 Jun 2012

New data on individuals with natural ability to fight off AIDS

"Scientists on Sunday said they had found a key piece in the puzzle as to why a tiny minority of individuals infected with HIV have a natural ability to fight off the deadly AIDS virus," Agence France-Presse reports.

12 Jun 2012

Scientists establish link between autoimmune diseases and nanoparticles

New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases.

12 Jun 2012

NMDA antibodies increased in mania patients

Patients with bipolar disorder show increased levels of antibodies to the NR2 subunits of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor during periods of acute mania, researchers report.

12 Jun 2012

Study reveals mystery of how pancreatic cancer escapes immune detection

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have made a key discovery that could help doctors treat one of the deadliest cancers.

12 Jun 2012

Trudeau Institute to receive sub-contract for translational research grant from NIH

The Trudeau Institute has announced it is the recipient of a sub-contract for a translational research grant from the National Institutes of Health.

12 Jun 2012

Study shows how infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous

One of the biggest risk factors for liver, colon or stomach cancer is chronic inflammation of those organs, often caused by viral or bacterial infections. A new study from MIT offers the most comprehensive look yet at how such infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous.

12 Jun 2012

MVP receives European patent for PEG conjugates of interferon-beta-1b to treat MS

Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced its receipt of European Patent No. 1 667 708 B1, titled "Polyethylene Glycol Conjugates of Interferon-beta-1b with Enhanced in vitro Biological Potency."

12 Jun 2012

Subtype of CD4-positive immune cells in the gut may influence HIV infection outcome

The findings of a new study in monkeys may help clarify why some people infected with HIV are better able to control the virus. They also may pinpoint a target for treatment during early HIV infection aimed at increasing the supply of certain immune cells in the gut, which the study shows could be an important factor in limiting HIV growth in cells throughout the body.

11 Jun 2012

New synthetic vaccine effective in killing HPV-derived cancer

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have developed and tested in mice a synthetic vaccine and found it effective in killing human papillomavirus-derived cancer, a virus linked to cervical cancers among others.

10 Jun 2012

Psoriasis link with autoimmune diseases underscored

Patients with psoriasis are nearly twice as likely to have an autoimmune disease as individuals without the condition, suggest study findings.

8 Jun 2012

Discovery answers why mother's immune system does not reject developing fetus as foreign tissue

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have made an important discovery that partially answers the long-standing question of why a mother's immune system does not reject a developing fetus as foreign tissue.

8 Jun 2012

What are vitamins?

Most people have heard of vitamin C and its effects upon the body; but how much do you know about other vitamins? How many even are there? And what do they all do?

8 Jun 2012

Researchers determine function of series proteins within the mosquito

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have, for the first time, determined the function of a series proteins within the mosquito that transduce a signal that enables the mosquito to fight off infection from the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

8 Jun 2012

Study: HIV superinfection may be more common than previously believed

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) superinfection may be as common as initial HIV infection and is not limited to high risk-populations, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

8 Jun 2012

Lung changes in association with ACPA status are a primary manifestation of RA

A new study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, shows that lung changes in association with anti-citrullinated protein autoantibody (ACPA) status are a primary manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

8 Jun 2012

Scientists uncover origin of Langerhans cells

Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) uncovered the origin of a group of skin-deep immune cells that act as the first line of defence against harmful germs and skin infections. SIgN scientists discovered that these sentry cells of the skin, called the Langerhans cells (LCs), originate from two distinct embryonic sites - the early yolk sac and the foetal liver.

8 Jun 2012

IRCM researchers make important breakthrough in the field of immunology

A team of researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. Andr- Veillette made an important breakthrough in the field of immunology, which will be published online today by the scientific journal Immunity. The scientists explained a poorly understood molecular mechanism associated with a human immune disorder known as XLP disease or Duncan's syndrome.

8 Jun 2012