Macrophage News and Research

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A macrophage is a type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells.

Researchers make major step toward finding target to combat drug-resistant neuroblastoma

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have made an important step toward finding a target in the fight against drug-resistant neuroblastoma (NBL), the most common solid malignancy found, outside of the skull, in children.

14 May 2015

Immune system plays surprising role in the progression of Rett syndrome

New research by investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School suggests the immune system plays an unsuspected and surprising role in the progression of Rett syndrome, a severe neurological disorder affecting children. Immune cells known as macrophages are unable to perform their normal function and are instead amplifying the disease.

11 May 2015

LSTM scientists one step closer to understanding why HAP increases risk of pneumonia

Scientists at LSTM have come a step closer to understanding why people exposed to household air pollution (HAP) are at higher risk of lung infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.

8 May 2015

Researchers reveal mechanisms involved in development of metabolic complications linked to obesity

Metabolic complications of obesity and overweight, such as type 2 diabetes, are an important challenge to public health. Teams led by Nicolas Venteclef, Inserm Research Fellow (Cordeliers Research Centre, Inserm/Pierre and Marie Curie University Joint Research Unit 1138, Paris, France) and Irina Udalova (Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, UK) in collaboration with several teams, have succeeded in elucidating part of the mechanisms involved in the development of these metabolic complications associated with obesity.

8 May 2015

Deben reports on the work of the Microscopy & Histology Core Facility at the University of Aberdeen

Deben reports on the work of the Microscopy & Histology Core Facility at the University of Aberdeen where a newly installed TEM and camera system have enhanced the services provided to users.

5 May 2015

UNC researchers use exosomes to deliver potent Parkinson's treatment directly to the brain

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have used exosomes -- tiny bubbles of protein and fat produced naturally by cells -- to bypass the body's defenses and deliver a potent antioxidant directly to the brain to treat Parkinson's disease.

5 May 2015

Cytokine GM-CSF likely plays important role in MS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by immune cells that activate a cascade of chemicals in the brain, attacking and degrading the insulation that keeps neuronal signals moving. These chemicals, called cytokines, drive the inflammation in the brain, attracting more immune cells, and causing the debilitating disease marked by loss of neurological function.

30 Apr 2015

Researchers describe critical connection associated with environmental cause of silicosis, lung cancer

Researchers at the University of Louisville have detailed a critical connection associated with a major environmental cause of silicosis and a form of lung cancer. Their study is reported in today's Nature Communications.

29 Apr 2015

Nuvo Research provides details of new WF10 Phase 2 clinical trial for treatment of allergic rhinitis

Nuvo Research Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company with a diverse portfolio of topical and immunology products, today announced additional details of its new Phase 2 clinical trial (the 2015 WF10 Trial) to assess WF10 for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

22 Apr 2015

UVA research identifies new role of immune system in Rett syndrome

The immune system is designed to protect us from disease. But what if it was malfunctioning? Would it make a disease worse? That appears to be the case with Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder, and possibly in other neurological disorders as well, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine has found.

22 Apr 2015

Novel approach allows real-time imaging of ongoing immune response

A novel approach that allows real-time imaging of the immune system's response to the presence of tumors—without the need for blood draws or invasive biopsies—offers a potential breakthrough both in diagnostics and in the ability to monitor efficacy of cancer therapies.

21 Apr 2015

MGH investigators identify inflammatory molecule that plays key role in lupus

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have identified an inflammatory molecule that appears to play an essential role in the autoimmune disorder systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus.

7 Apr 2015

Nanomedicine strategy can help reduce heart attacks, strokes

A research team showed that a nanotherapeutic medicine can halt the growth of artery plaque cells resulting in the fast reduction of the inflammation that may cause a heart attack, according to a study led by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published April 3 in Science Advances.

6 Apr 2015

Peripheral inflammatory cells play role in Parkinson's disease

A small area in the midbrain known as the substantia nigra is the control center for all bodily movement. Increasing loss of dopamine-generating neurons in this part of the brain therefore leads to the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease - slowness of movement, rigidity and shaking.

3 Apr 2015

MRSA bacteria exposed to cigarette smoke become more resistant to antimicrobial peptides

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant superbug, can cause life-threatening skin, bloodstream and surgical site infections or pneumonia. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now report that cigarette smoke may make matters worse.

3 Apr 2015

Low doses of imatinib drug can push immune system to combat bacterial infections

Low doses of the anti-cancer drug imatinib can spur the bone marrow to produce more innate immune cells to fight against bacterial infections, Emory researchers have found.

1 Apr 2015

New research reveals how a deadly fungus grows and kills immune cells

New research from the University of Toronto has scientists re-thinking how a lethal fungus grows and kills immune cells. The study hints at a new approach to therapy for Candida albicans, one of the most common causes of bloodstream infections.

31 Mar 2015

Keystone meeting focuses on neuroinflammation, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases

As Alzheimer's disease sweeps through the brain, do the brain's immune cells sit idly by and let it happen? Or could they overreact and make the disease worse?

23 Mar 2015

Discovery may lead to new potential treatment for drug-resistant melanoma

In the last several years, targeted therapies - drugs that directly impact specific genes and proteins involved in the progression of cancer - have been approved for a wide variety of cancers, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, researchers at The Wistar Institute have discovered one way in which melanoma becomes resistant to a particular form of targeted therapy, and understanding this phenomenon may lead to a new melanoma target or prompt new designs of these treatments.