Immune System News and Research

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Scientists identify 29 new genetic variants linked to multiple sclerosis

Scientists have identified 29 new genetic variants linked to multiple sclerosis, providing key insights into the biology of a very debilitating neurological disease. Many of the genes -implicated in the study are relevant to the immune system, shedding light onto the immunological pathways that underlie the development of multiple sclerosis.

11 Aug 2011

Researchers identify novel sensory pathway that modulates pro-inflammatory cells

New research led by Derya Unutmaz, MD associate professor, the Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine and Mark Sundrud, PhD, of Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has identified a novel sensory pathway that modulates the potency of Th17 cell responses.

11 Aug 2011

Herbal remedies fail to provide safety information on labels

According to a new study many herbal remedies are not free from side effects as commonly believed. Herbal medicines may not contain all the information that consumers need to use them safely said the study.

11 Aug 2011

Aeras, OETC announce initiation of new TB vaccine Phase IIb trial in patients with HIV

Aeras and the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium (OETC) announce today the start of a Phase IIb proof-of-concept efficacy trial of a new investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that involves people living with the human immunodeficiency virus.

11 Aug 2011

57 genes associated with multiple sclerosis

An international research team has found nearly 30 genetic risk factors that predispose to developing multiple sclerosis. It brings to more than 50 the total number of genetic clues to the disease. The research, published in Nature, will help identify risk factors and perhaps future treatments or even a cure, hopes the MS Society.

11 Aug 2011

Gene therapy to combat leukemia

In a medical breakthrough scientists have found that gene therapy could be used to cure leukemia. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania engineered patients' own pathogen-fighting T-cells to target a molecule found on the surface of leukemia cells. These genetically modified T-cells were grown outside of the body and infused back into patients suffering from late-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which affects the blood and bone marrow and is the most common form of leukemia.

11 Aug 2011

Cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing tumor suppressor gene IL-2Rγ

Mariusz A. Wasik, MD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Qian Zhang, MD, PhD, research assistant professor, both from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and their colleagues, found that a cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing the tumor suppressor gene IL-2R common gamma-chain.

10 Aug 2011

U.S. can do more to reverse famine in Horn of Africa

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is traveling in East Africa with a U.S. delegation "to study the famine affecting the lives of over 12 million people, many of them children," writes in the Huffington Post's blog, "Huffpost Impact," that the group will assess "what more we as a nation can do."

10 Aug 2011

The graying of HIV and AIDS

At 57, Bill Nissley he still leads an active life - traveling, teaching tennis to budding young players, conversing in five languages with whomever he can find. But Nissley is growing older, and that in itself is astounding. The Santa Monica resident has coexisted with human immunodeficiency virus since testing positive in 1987, which led to him contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome in 1998.

10 Aug 2011

BIDMC researchers receive PCF Challenge Awards for novel prostate cancer study

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) researchers Martin Sanda, MD, and Steven Balk MD, PhD, have been awarded Challenge Awards of $1 million each from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) to lead two cross-disciplinary teams of investigators in their pursuit of new treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

10 Aug 2011

First bioengineered anal sphincter for treatment of fecal and urinary incontinence

Researchers have built the first functional anal sphincters in the laboratory, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle and nerve cells, the sphincters developed a blood supply and maintained function when implanted in mice.

10 Aug 2011

Moderate exercise may help prevent cognitive decline after bacterial infection

A small amount of exercise shields older animals from memory loss following a bacterial infection, according to a study in the August 10 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

10 Aug 2011

MAVS prion-like proteins are involved in innate immunity: Discovery

A person's ability to battle viruses at the cellular level remarkably resembles the way deadly infectious agents called prions misfold and cluster native proteins to cause disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

9 Aug 2011

Researchers clarify role of two proteins key to T-cell development

In the latest issue of Nature, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify the role of two proteins key to T-cell development.

9 Aug 2011

Engineered T cells can eradicate deadly human ovarian cancer in immune-deficient mice

In a recent issue of Cancer Research, Daniel J. Powell, Jr., PhD, a research assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed for the first time that engineered human T cells can eradicate deadly human ovarian cancer in immune-deficient mice.

9 Aug 2011

Novel link between two receptors mediates fungal recognition in macrophages

Whitehead Institute researchers have uncovered a novel association between two fungal recognition receptors on the surface of certain immune cells, called macrophages.

9 Aug 2011

Study finds key influential factors linked with risk of allergies in babies

Prenatal pet exposure, a mother's delivery mode and race are influential factors in a child's risk of developing allergies by age 2, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

9 Aug 2011

NIH awards Jefferson $4.8M grant to study vaccine to clear rabies virus from central nervous system

Thomas Jefferson University received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) $4.8 million grant to test a new rabies vaccine with the potential to cure the virus infection, even after it has made its way into a person's central nervous system (CNS). Today, if an unvaccinated person is infected with rabies and it spreads to the brain, there is little chance for survival.

8 Aug 2011

Researchers team up to combat age-related macular degeneration

A professor at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering has received a $100,000 grant to develop a new technique to fight a disease that gradually destroys vision.

8 Aug 2011

Researchers use SNAP technology to assess fetal gene expression in amniotic fluid

Researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of focused fetal gene expression analysis of target genes found in amniotic fluid using Standardized NanoArray PCR (SNAP) technology.

8 Aug 2011