Human Leukocyte Antigen News and Research

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Susceptibility to Behcet's disease associated with genes involved in body's immune response

Researchers with the National Institutes of Health have found susceptibility to Behcet's disease, a painful, inflammatory condition, to be associated with genes involved in the body's immune response.

14 Jul 2010

Cedars-Sinai researchers awarded $1.47M grant to study stem cell immune rejection response

A team of Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute researchers led by Terrence Town, Ph.D. has been awarded a three-year, $1.47 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to fund research into mechanisms for how human immune systems reject or accept transplanted brain stem cells.

24 Jun 2010

Researchers evaluate dental pulp cells as optimal source of iPS cells

Defined sets of factors can reprogram human cells to induced pluripotent stem cells. However, many types of human cells are not easily accessible to minimally invasive procedures. In a paper published in the International and American Associations for Dental Research's Journal of Dental Research, lead researcher K. Tezuka and researchers N. Tamaoki, H. Aoki, T. Takeda-Kawaguchi, K. Iida, T. Kunisada and T. Shibata all from the Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan; and K. Takahashi, T. Tanaka and S. Yamanaka, all from Kyoto University, Japan, evaluate dental pulp cells as an optimal source of iPS cells, since they are easily obtained from extracted teeth and can be expanded under simple culture conditions.

18 Jun 2010

Scientists identify new susceptibility genes in genome-wide association study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Scientists from Singapore, China and USA have identified three new susceptibility genes in a genome-wide association study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The study, led by the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), a biomedical research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Centre, identified genetic risk factors of NPC that advance the understanding of the important role played by host genetic variation in influencing the susceptibility to this cancer.

31 May 2010

Certain genetic mutations lead to Type 1 diabetes: The Scripps Research Institute

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have provided an answer to the 40-year-old mystery of how certain genetic mutations lead to Type 1 diabetes. This new molecular understanding could lead to novel therapies for Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.

20 Apr 2010

QuantRx Biomedical's developments in genetics-based technology

QuantRx® Biomedical Corporation, a broad-based diagnostic company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative diagnostic products, today provided an update from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Walter Witoshkin on its involvement in genetics-based personalized medicine and disease prevention.

20 Jan 2010

Modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen reverses sickle cell disease

A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

13 Dec 2009

Roche's high-throughput sequencing technology used for high-resolution HLA genotyping

A study published this month in the journal Tissue Antigens reports that researchers at Roche Molecular Systems in Pleasanton, CA have used high-throughput sequencing technology from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company, to carry out high-resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping in research samples.

27 Oct 2009

Roche's Genome Sequencer FLX System used for critical immunogenetic study

A study published online today in the prestigious Nature Medicine journal reports that researchers at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center have explored a new high-throughput method for decoding one of the most critical genomic regions for the immune system.

14 Oct 2009

New technique developed to assess individual's risk for type 1 diabetes

A sophisticated computational algorithm, applied to a large set of gene markers, has achieved greater accuracy than conventional methods in assessing individual risk for type 1 diabetes.

9 Oct 2009

Research on blood transfusions points to a potential risk of transfusing donated platelets

Doctors have noticed a pattern in performing bone marrow transplants as a cure for diseases involving bone marrow failure: more transfusions before a bone marrow transplant correlates with a higher likelihood of rejection, says James Zimring, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.

12 Aug 2009

Amazonian tribe sheds light on causes of heart attacks and strokes in developed countries

Heart attacks and strokes — the leading causes of death in the United States and other developed countries — may have been rare for the vast majority of human history, suggests a study to be published in PLoS ONE on Tuesday, August 11.

10 Aug 2009

Future of organ transplantation - microscopic beads that create "designer " immune cells

The future of organ transplantation could include microscopic beads that create "designer" immune cells to help patients tolerate their new organ, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

6 Jul 2009

New test detects genetic and chromosomal abnormalities in embryos - ready for clinical trials

One-step screening for both genetic and chromosomal abnormalities has come a stage closer as scientists announced that an embryo test they have been developing has successfully screened cells taken from spare embryos that were known to have cystic fibrosis.

30 Jun 2009

Woman's placenta new source for harvesting stem cells

A groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns.

23 Jun 2009

Discovery of genetic cause for primary biliary cirrhosis

Researchers have discovered a novel molecular path that predisposes patients to develop primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease that mainly affects women and slowly destroys their livers. Primary biliary cirrhosis has no known cause.

27 May 2009

Study reveals current multi-component vaccines may need reworking

Current strategies for designing vaccines against HIV and cancers, for instance, may enable some components in multi-component vaccines to cancel the effect of others on the immune system, eliminating their ability to provide protection, according to an article to be published shortly in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

7 May 2009

Mutations that help HIV hide undermine the virus's ability to replicate

When HIV infects a cell, a complex of human immune proteins called HLA (short for human leukocyte antigen) alert killer T cells by displaying bits of the virus on the surface of the cell. The T cells recognize these HIV fragments and mobilize an attack.

13 Apr 2009

Genetic risk factors play role in autoantibody-negative rheumatoid arthritis

During the past few years, several new genetic risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been identified.

8 Apr 2009

Trial shows safety of pre-transplant expansion of umbilical cord blood stem cells

Taking blood stem cells collected from an umbilical cord into the lab and expanding their number before transplanting them to replace a patient's blood supply is as safe as a standard cord blood transplant, researchers reported at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

8 Dec 2008