Antibody News and Research

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An antibody is a blood protein that is produced in response to and counteracts an antigen. Antibodies are produced in response to disease and help the body fight against the particular disease. In this way, antibodies help the body develop an immunity to disease.

Natural antifreeze protein may help store human organs

A new antifreeze protein discovered in tiny snow fleas by Queen's University researchers may lengthen the shelf life of human organs for transplantation.

23 Oct 2005

New treatment advances for patients with follicular lymphoma

A newly published study recommends that doctors carefully choose their patients' initial therapies because there are significant differences in overall survival rates, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

20 Oct 2005

Hepatitis C linked to illegal blood donation in China

Research in a rural province of central China has documented that illegal blood donation practices led to high hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in blood and plasma donors during the 1980s and early 1990s, and that failure to screen for HCV in transfusion recipients increased their risk of infection as well

20 Oct 2005

Identification of a factor in human milk that can block HIV-1 transmission

Mother to child transmission of HIV accounts for a large proportion of HIV infections in children, with many infected as a result of breastfeeding, which requires transfer of the virus across mucosal barriers. DC-SIGN, a DC lectin receptor, interacts with HIV and is found at high expression levels in tonsillar tissue.

20 Oct 2005

Herceptin results "quite remarkable"

The targeted drug trastuzumab, or Herceptin, previously shown to prolong survival in advanced breast cancer, dramatically reduced the chances of recurrence in patients with early-stage disease when given for one year following standard chemotherapy.

19 Oct 2005

Evidence is mounting to link toxoplasmosis with schizophrenia

Keep pet cats inside, stop feeding strays, cook meat sufficiently and reconsider the way the veterinary profession and public health agencies think - and teach - about the zoonotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii.

18 Oct 2005

Discovery could lead to tests for the clinic or battlefield to diagnose ailments with just a few drops of blood

A way to detect fragments of broken brain cells that leak into the bloodstream may help doctors more quickly and precisely treat people with severe head injuries or brain diseases, say researchers at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute.

17 Oct 2005

Hormone responsible for types of high blood pressure could also cause preeclampsia

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center have found evidence of a hormone they say is responsible for certain types of high blood pressure (hypertension), and could also cause preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition that occurs during pregnancy.

17 Oct 2005

1G8 antibody signals prostate cancer cells to stop growing and die

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have uncovered the mechanism by which an antibody blocks the growth of prostate cancer in animal models, a discovery that could pave the way for development of a new molecularly targeted therapy.

17 Oct 2005

Antibody-dependent enhancement

Some viruses' ability to exploit the human body's own defenses to increase their replication may be both a blessing and curse, according to the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

16 Oct 2005

Infants and adolescents vaccinated against hepatitis B are protected for over 10 years after immunisation

...concludes a study in this week’s issue of The Lancet. The authors state that booster doses of vaccine do not seem necessary to ensure long-term protection.

13 Oct 2005

New monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells shows promise for treating leukemias

In studies with mice, treatment with a new monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells has shown considerable promise for treating leukemias, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection, according to immunologists at Duke University Medical Center.

11 Oct 2005

Experimental HIV vaccine progresses in trials

A novel vaccine targeted to multiple HIV subtypes found worldwide has moved into the second phase of clinical testing, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

11 Oct 2005

Bats carry SARS like virus

An international consortium headed by CAS researchers has identified that the Chinese horseshoe bat is healthy carriers of a virus that is very closely related to those causing SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

10 Oct 2005

Real dangers from environmental toxins most likely occur early in life

Exposure of developing fetuses and newborns to low levels of environmental toxins such as lead, mercury and dioxin, as well as nicotine and ethanol, could be behind the recent sharp rises in asthma, allergies and autoimmune disorders like lupus, says a Cornell University researcher.

10 Oct 2005

Tonsils reveal information that helps understand lupus

By snipping out and analyzing tiny samples of patients' tonsils, scientists have identified a key cellular checkpoint that is somehow bypassed in lupus patients, where harmful immune cells that normally are squelched by the body are mistakenly granted access.

9 Oct 2005

New technique to produce large numbers of antibodies quickly

Faster method to create antibodies for disease research British scientists are pioneering a new technique to produce large numbers of antibodies quickly and reliably to help the study of dangerous bacteria.

9 Oct 2005

Gut antibody could prove to be a promising drug target for Crohn's disease

A collaboration led by the Burnham Institute for Medical Research has found that an antibody which binds to an unusual sugar molecule residing in the gut halts the inflammation seen in Crohn's disease and other intestinal inflammations. The antibody could prove to be a promising drug target for these common chronic intestinal disorders.

9 Oct 2005

Kidney paired donation transplantation has graft survival rates equivalent to compatible live donor transplants

A preliminary study suggests that kidney paired donation transplantation, in which incompatible donor/recipient pairs exchange kidneys so that each recipient receives a compatible kidney, had graft survival rates equivalent to compatible live donor transplants, according to a study in the October 5 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Oct 2005

Discovery of molecular roots of asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis

The molecular roots of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered by a team of researchers led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. They say their findings may point to ways to effectively treat these diseases - if not stop them before they start.

4 Oct 2005