Chemokine News and Research

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Chemokines are a family of small cytokines, or proteins secreted by cells. Proteins are classified as chemokines according to shared structural characteristics such as small size (they are all approximately 8-10 kilodaltons in size), and the presence of four cysteine residues in conserved locations that are key to forming their 3-dimensional shape.

A modified protein mediates development of lung fibrosis after cadmium/carbon black exposure

The triggers and causes of a severe scarring disease of the lungs -- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF -- remain unclear.

18 Mar 2021

Engineered mouse Intestine Chip platform can help study host-microbiome interactions

Trillions of commensal microbes live on the mucosal and epidermal surfaces of the body and it is firmly established that this microbiome affects its host's tolerance and sensitivity of the host to a variety of pathogens.

16 Mar 2021

Cats with chronic kidney disease may help inform treatment for humans in future

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is investigating how cats with chronic kidney disease could someday help inform treatment for humans.

13 Mar 2021

SARS-CoV-2 is extremely sensitive to type I IFN pre-treatment, study finds

Researchers have found that SARS-CoV-2 is extremely sensitive to type I IFN pre-treatment. Therefore, strategies such as focusing on limiting the production of IFN, rather than its function, could restrict the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 that increases its viral load with delayed or absent symptoms.

12 Mar 2021

Study clarifies the role of collagen during pancreatic cancer development

Contrary to long-held beliefs, Type I collagen produced by cancer-associated fibroblasts may not promote cancer development but instead plays a protective role in controlling pancreatic cancer progression, reports a new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

4 Mar 2021

Newly identified biomarker could predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors

A team of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has identified a new biomarker that could predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) shortly after patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) initiate therapy.

3 Mar 2021

COVID-19 and lung cancer have a common pathway, say researchers

A new preprint on the bioRxiv* server describes the common features COVID-19 shares with lung cancer.

19 Feb 2021

Researchers find CXCR6 gene plays a role in COVID-19 severity

Researchers in the United States have conducted a study demonstrating that a gene called CXCR6 (C-X-C Motif Chemokine Receptor 6) may play an important role in determining the severity of COVID-19.

19 Feb 2021

RIG-1-like receptors may play dominant role in suppressing SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center, USA, reports the crucial nature of the pathogen pattern recognition receptor (PRRs), especially the two RLRs, retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5), in triggering host cell immune responses within the cell. The RLRs are viral RNA sensors.

15 Feb 2021

Researchers study host and viral transcriptomes in tandem to shed light on SARS-CoV-2 infection

In a new study, researchers discuss the use of simultaneous sequencing of both human and viral genes to better understand SARS-CoV-2's infection pathway.

15 Feb 2021

Orally administered experimental drug halts SARS-CoV-2 replication, prevents infection

Publishing their work in Nature, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health found that the orally administered experimental drug EIDD-2801 halts SARS-CoV-2 replication and prevents infection of human cells in a new in vivo lab model containing human lung tissue.

10 Feb 2021

Lysosomal-immune axis associated with COVID-19 severity

New research suggests the modulation of lysosomal-immune pathways may present a novel drug-targeting strategy to attenuate SARS-CoV-2 infections.

2 Feb 2021

Study unravels relationship status of important receptor on immune and cancer cells

An important receptor on the surface of cancer and immune cells prefers to remain noncommittal; sometimes it is present as a single, sometimes as a pair. This was first shown by an MDC team in the journal PNAS, and will decisively advance the development of new medications.

30 Jan 2021

Researchers explore adaptive immunity against human coronaviruses

A recent study shows that long-term adaptive immunity to endemic coronaviruses is widespread, but low in magnitude, and that it shares phenotypic features of spike-specific antibodies and T cell memory across all tested coronaviruses.

29 Jan 2021

NK and T cell subsets show distinctive lung-homing receptor profiles in COVID-19 patients

A new study reveals in detail the changes that occur in peripheral blood natural killer (NK) and T cells in COVID-19.

18 Jan 2021

Study: Fibroblast hormone promotes movement of hematopoietic stem cells

Discovery expected to contribute towards more effective methods of harvesting stem cells from bone marrow donors.

17 Jan 2021

New study can help determine effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with bladder cancer

In patients with bladder cancer, chemotherapy effectiveness is partially determined by the body's immune system response to the malignancy. This is the conclusion of research conducted by a team of scientists from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health.

15 Jan 2021

Combination therapy found to be effective against treatment-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma

A combination cancer therapy that is effective against treatment-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by inhibiting tumor growth and increasing survival has been identified by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital.

30 Nov 2020

Female reproductive hormones may be protective against COVID-19

In an article recently published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, Graziano Pinna from the University of Illinois in Chicago outlines some of the evidence suggesting that female reproductive hormones may play a role in the sex bias that has been observed in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

29 Nov 2020

Favorable clinical outcome for ivermectin in COVID-19 animal model

A team of researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France has found that ivermectin prevented clinical deterioration in infected animals. The drug also reduced the inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-6 and 10 (IL-6 and IL-10) in lung tissue, which leads to more favorable clinical outcomes in treated animals.

23 Nov 2020