Interferons News and Research

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Over- or under-reaction of immune system can be life-threatening

The dilemma of our immune system is comparable to the story of Icarus and Daedalus from Greek mythology. To escape their captivity, Daedalus built wings from feathers and wax for himself and his son. Daedalus warned his son that he must neither fly too high but also not too low, otherwise the sun's heat or the humidity of the sea would destroy his wings and he would crash. After they had successfully escaped, Icarus became boisterous and flew higher and higher until the sun began to melt the wax of his wings and he fell into the sea. Similarly, an over- or under-reaction of our immune system can be life-threatening.

11 Mar 2016

STING agonists developed to induce cellular death in B cell malignancies

In almost every mammalian cell, you will find the endoplasmic reticulum, a network of continuous membranes responsible for controlling metabolism as well as the folding, assembly and secretion of proteins.

11 Mar 2016

Neural gene promotes growth and spread of metastatic breast cancer

When breast cancer becomes advanced and spreads to other organs, patient survival is drastically reduced, prompting the need to explore the genes that may cause tumor cells to metastasize.

15 Feb 2016

Researchers use quick screening method to identify, test promising anti-Ebola drugs

A quick screening method has been used for the first time in a standard open laboratory to identify and test promising anti-Ebola drugs. This approach increases the possibility of finding new therapies faster.

12 Jan 2016

Findings show promising evidence for creating broad-spectrum antiviral

UW researchers working in collaboration with Kineta Inc. and the University of Texas at Galveston have shown that making a drug-like molecule to turn on innate immunity can induce genes to control infection in several -known viruses.

18 Dec 2015

Researchers identify role of cGAS enzyme in autoimmune diseases

Activating an enzyme that sounds an alarm for the body's innate immune system causes two lethal autoimmune diseases in mice, while inhibiting the same enzyme rescues them, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

28 Oct 2015

Hiroshima University researchers demonstrate how Sendai virus escapes host immune system

A research group at Hiroshima University demonstrated the mechanism by which the Sendai virus (SeV) escapes the host immune system. The researchers examined the crystal structure of the complex of SeV C protein and transcription factor STAT1, and found that SeV C protein inhibits the signal transduction pathway of interferon gamma.

16 Oct 2015

Researchers find way to trigger 'virus alert' that may help boost drug's ability to prevent cancer cells

Working with human cancer cell lines and mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and elsewhere have found a way to trigger a type of immune system "virus alert" that may one day boost cancer patients' response to immunotherapy drugs. An increasingly promising focus of cancer research, the drugs are designed to disarm cancer cells' ability to avoid detection and destruction by the immune system.

27 Aug 2015

Canadian researchers discover how HIV evades the body's antiviral responses

A Canadian research team at the IRCM in Montreal, led by molecular virologist Eric A. Cohen, PhD, made a significant discovery on how HIV escapes the body's antiviral responses. The team uncovered how an HIV viral protein known as Vpu tricks the immune system by using its own regulatory process to evade the host's first line of defence.

16 Jul 2015

New book examines all aspects of HBV and HDV infections

Despite the availability of an effective vaccine for hepatitis B, hundreds of millions of people worldwide are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). This virus can cause serious liver damage and cancer in chronically infected patients. Hepatitis delta virus (HDV), a satellite of HBV, can exacerbate the disease.

19 Jun 2015

Researchers uncover new mechanism that innate immune system uses to curb viral infections

An innovative mechanism that the innate immune system uses to control viral infections has been uncovered by researchers at the University Medical Centers in Mainz and Freiburg. Central to this is the discovery that two different but related elements of the immune system can act together in concert to fight, for example, rotavirus infections.

16 Jun 2015

Mesothelioma.us releases new case study that focuses on experimental treatments for mesothelioma

Mesothelioma.us, an educational and authoritative website that offers free and in-depth resources for mesothelioma patients and their families, has just released a new case study that focuses on the experimental treatments for the disease.

15 Jun 2015

New finding may lead to development of immunity-based therapies for tuberculosis

A study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified how an enzyme involved in protecting the body from pathogens senses Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial pathogen that infects millions of people worldwide and causes about 1.5 million deaths annually.

2 Jun 2015

TSRI researchers find interferon beta protein as prime suspect in persistent viral infections

Interferon proteins are normally considered virus-fighters, but scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found evidence that one of them, interferon beta (IFNβ), has an immune-suppressing effect that can help some viruses establish persistent infections.

14 May 2015

Investigational three-drug combination clears hepatitis C in 93% of patients with liver cirrhosis

A 12-week dose of an investigational three-drug hepatitis C combination cleared the virus in 93 percent of patients with liver cirrhosis who hadn't previously been treated, according to a study in the May 5, 2015, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

7 May 2015

Research findings offer new insights into pathophysiology of PTSD

Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in New York and the United Kingdom, have identified genetic markers, derived from blood samples that are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The markers are associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function and interferon signaling.

11 Mar 2015

CPRIT awards research and recruitment grants to improve cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers more than $7.5 million in research grants to improve diagnostic and therapeutic services and research relating to cancers of the brain, breast, throat, and bone, as well as to improve scientific understanding of cancer biology.

9 Mar 2015

Lupus Research Institute announces this year's Novel Research Grants

As the Lupus Research Institute celebrates its 15th anniversary, the engine of innovation moves forward at accelerated speed with the announcement of this year's Novel Research Grants bringing new talent from a wide diversity of specialties. Each project lives up to the strictest definition of novel – wholly original, never-been-done-before.

19 Feb 2015

Researchers show importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of innate immune system

For the first time scientists from Umeå University show the importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of our innate immune system and hence the ability to mount the optimal inflammatory response to infections and other biological dangers.

18 Feb 2015

UT Southwestern researchers identify common signaling mechanism that controls immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a common signaling mechanism to produce interferon - one of the main proteins used to signal the immune system when the body needs to defend itself against a virus, tumor, or other diseases.

15 Feb 2015