Interferons News and Research

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Scientists pinpoint epigenetic differences in the way lupus affects black women

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have pinpointed epigenetic differences in the way lupus affects black women compared to other lupus patients, revealing important mechanics of the puzzling disease.

24 Oct 2019

Disrupting key immune regulator boosts anti-tumor immunity, enables cancer clearance

The immune system must strike an exquisite balance between vanquishing infections and cancer, while at the same time restraining its activity to avoid inadvertently attacking the body's healthy tissues and organs.

23 Oct 2019

Researchers receive $3.2 million NIH grant to pursue a deeper understanding of Down syndrome

Mount Sinai researchers have been awarded a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to pursue a deeper understanding of Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities in children and young adults, affecting more than 200,000 individuals in the United States.

22 Oct 2019

Mutant live attenuated Ebola virus elicits protective immunity in monkeys

Inoculation with an Ebola virus that has mutations in a protein called VP35 does not cause disease and elicits protection in monkeys, researchers show September 17 in the journal Cell Reports.

17 Sep 2019

Study shows potential of crucial signaling pathway as biomarker, therapeutic target for cancer

A crucial signaling pathway that can tell the immune system to fight off cancer can also be co-opted by cancer cells to put the brakes on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

9 Aug 2019

Comprehensive gene activity database could significantly reduce animal use

A comprehensive database of gene activity in mice across ten disease models, which could significantly reduce animal use worldwide, has been developed by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, which gives a full picture of the immune response to different pathogens.

29 Jun 2019

Researchers use genetically manipulated virus to combat prostate cancer

Researchers at the São Paulo State Cancer Institute in Brazil have succeeded in using a genetically manipulated virus to destroy tumor cells upon injection into mice with prostate cancer.

27 Jun 2019

New therapeutic strategy treats viral infection and boosts immunity against cancer

A potential therapeutic strategy to treat viral infection and boost immunity against cancer is reported in the May 30 online issue of the journal Cell.

31 May 2019

Host-cell enzymes vital for inhibiting mutant forms of coronavirus, study finds

Host-cell enzymes called PARP12 and PARP14 are important for inhibiting mutant forms of a coronavirus, according to a study published May 16 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Stanley Perlman of the University of Iowa, Anthony Fehr of the University of Kansas, and colleagues.

21 May 2019

Low humidity could be flu virus' best friend

Yale researchers have pinpointed a key reason why people are more likely to get sick and even die from flu during winter months: low humidity.

14 May 2019

Researchers develop fast diagnostic tool that shows MS patients in relapse

Dr. Horea Rus is an expert in diagnosing and treating patients with multiple sclerosis, and his research laboratory at the University of Maryland is producing new tools for treating the disease that attacks the central nervous system.

8 May 2019

Early molecular signs of high-risk pregnancy revealed

Women who have healthy pregnancies tend to show distinct changes in the activities of immune genes starting early in pregnancy, while women who have complicated pregnancies tend to show clear departures from that pattern, according to a new study from a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery.

9 Apr 2019

Study compares use of breast milk to formula in children who underwent bone marrow transplant

A new pilot study compared the use of human breast milk to formula in children less than 5 years of age who underwent bone marrow transplant (BMT), measuring the levels of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory biomarkers in the stool and blood to assess inflammatory injury to the intestinal microbiome.

5 Apr 2019

Study offers new insights for vaccine development to prevent RSV disease

In healthy adults, RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, feels like the common cold with a runny nose, chest congestion and cough.

27 Mar 2019

Lupus Research Alliance announces research awards to accelerate development of new therapies

Can "borrowed" drugs for treating other diseases protect the skin in patients with lupus? Can researchers coax the body to weed out harmful immune cells that drive tissue destruction in lupus? Those are just two of the innovative approaches for lupus therapies recognized by the Lupus Research Alliance with the latest round of its Target Identification in Lupus grants.

11 Jan 2019

Boosting our defenses to fight Klebsiella infections

Although a relatively common infection, some bacteria that causes pneumonia can be particularly deadly. As a case in point, take Klebsiella pneumoniae, which has been included on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) list of infections that desperately need new treatments.

6 Dec 2018

Antimicrobial signaling molecule has lower activity against hepatitis C virus in most humans

An antimicrobial signaling molecule called IFNλ4 has lower activity against the hepatitis C virus in the vast majority of humans compared with chimpanzees and African hunter-gatherer Pygmies, according to a study published October 11 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by John McLauchlan’s research team at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in the UK, and colleagues.

12 Oct 2018

Scripps Research scientists discover role of immune system double agent

Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered the role of an immune system double agent. This molecule, called USP18, can help curtail immune responses, but it can also open the door to bacterial infections, such as harmful listeria and staph infections.

5 Oct 2018

Research uncovers how the immune system detects DNA damage

Our immune system is working every day to protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites, but it can also detect when our own cells are damaged.

6 Sep 2018

Study adds more evidence to underlying autoimmune mechanisms in type 1 diabetes

Immune reactions are usually a good thing-;the body's way of eliminating harmful bacteria and other pathogens. But people also rely on molecular "brakes," or checkpoints, to keep immune systems from attacking their own cells and organs and causing so-called autoimmune disease.

29 Aug 2018