Immune System News and Research

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Topical treatment wipes out herpes with RNAi

Whether condoms or abstinence, most efforts to prevent sexually transmitted diseases have a common logic: keep the pathogen out of your body altogether.

21 Jan 2009

Inflammation contributes to colon cancer

Researchers led by Drs. Lillian Maggio-Price and Brian Iritani at The University of Washington found that mice that lack the immune inhibitory molecule Smad3 are acutely sensitive to both bacterially-induced inflammation and cancer.

21 Jan 2009

Newly discovered protein acts as virus alarm

The Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM) announces the discovery of a new molecular sensor in human cells capable of recognizing infecting viruses and transmitting an alarm signal to the body.

21 Jan 2009

Cell transplantation and diabetes: New sites, new devices

Early attempts at islet cell transplantation to treat diabetes date to the nineteenth century, decades before the discovery of insulin in the 1930s.

21 Jan 2009

Blocked Interleukin 21 protein prevents Lupus in mouse model

Mice from a strain that ordinarily develops systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but bred with a deficiency in receptor for the protein Interleukin 21, stayed healthy and exhibited none of the symptoms of the disease, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory and National Institutes of Health report.

21 Jan 2009

Biotech venture seeks West Nile virus treatment from antibodies in geese

Rich Glynn, a straight-talking entrepreneur from South Dakota, doesn't mince words when explaining why a partnership between his fledgling goose operation and the University of North Dakota is a match made in heaven.

21 Jan 2009

Poxvirus breakthrough

Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world.

19 Jan 2009

Researchers identify biochemical switch required for nerve cells to respond to DNA damage

The finding, scheduled for advance online publication in Nature Cell Biology, illuminates a connection between proteins involved in neurodegenerative disease and in cells' response to DNA damage.

19 Jan 2009

Large DNA stretches, not single genes, shut off as cells mature

Experiments at Johns Hopkins have found that the gradual maturing of embryonic cells into cells as varied as brain, liver and immune system cells is apparently due to the shut off of several genes at once rather than in individual smatterings as previous studies have implied.

19 Jan 2009

Breakthrough in treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Dr. André Veillette, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mario-Ernesto Cruz-Munoz, will publish in the upcoming issue of the prestigious journal Nature Immunology of Nature Publishing Group.

19 Jan 2009

Insight into how Toxoplasma gondii triggers immune response in its host

Researchers provide insight into how Toxoplasma gondii , a common parasite of people and other animals, triggers an immune response in its host.

19 Jan 2009

Salmonella prompts recall of Kellogg's snacks

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials in the United States have confirmed the presence of salmonella in a popular snack made by food giant Kellogg.

19 Jan 2009

Coca-Cola accused of outright fraud

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola has been accused of making deceptive and unsubstantiated health claims about its Vitaminwater beverages.

19 Jan 2009

Kidney transplant survival can be long-term for people with HIV

A Johns Hopkins study finds that HIV-positive kidney transplant recipients could have the same one-year survival rates for themselves and their donor organs as those without HIV, provided certain risk factors for transplant failure are recognized and tightly managed.

19 Jan 2009

Osteoporosis? Look out for depression

A review article which is published in the current issue of the European Journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics analyzes the relationship between depression and bone metabolism.

19 Jan 2009

New approach to treat advanced melanoma

Skin cancer patient Debra Gardocki receives an injection from oncologist Dr. Sanjiv Agarwala as part of a study exploring a new approach to treat advanced melanoma -- an often fatal form of cancer for which there are limited effective treatment options.

19 Jan 2009

Probiotics prevent IgE-associated allergy until age 5 in cesarean-delivered children but not in total cohort

According to a recent study from the University and the University Central Hospital of Helsinki, Finland, no allergy-preventive effect is extended to age 5 years by perinatal supplementation with probiotics in babies at risk for developing allergies; protection is conferred only to Cesarean section babies.

15 Jan 2009

Advaxis wins European patent case involving Lovaxin-C vaccine

The European Patent Court in Munich, Germany has ruled in favor of Advaxis Incorporated and reversed a patent challenge made by Anza Therapeutics, Inc., formerly Cerus Corp.

15 Jan 2009

Pediatric vaccine propels sharp drop in meningitis cases

A pediatric vaccine with University of Rochester roots has proven to be highly successful at reducing cases of bacterial meningitis across all age groups.That is the conclusion of a seven-year study, the results of which appeared today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

14 Jan 2009

New folate antagonists selectively target pathway important in rheumatoid arthritis

Methotrexate (MTX), a folate antagonist that blocks folic acid activity, is the most widely used disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for rheumatoid arthritis.

13 Jan 2009