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Oral antibiotics that kill gut microorganisms can alter immune response to flu vaccines

The normal human gut microbiome is a flourishing community of microorganisms, some of which can affect the human immune system. In a new paper published this week in Cell, researchers found that oral antibiotics, which can kill gut microorganisms, can alter the human immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination.

8 Sep 2019

New study examines how polarity regulators control cellular mechanics in skin

The cell polarity protein Par3 controls mechanic changes in the skin and plays an important role in cell division.

31 Jul 2019

Antibiotics can wipe out early flu resistance, study finds

Antibiotics can leave the lung vulnerable to flu viruses, leading to significantly worse infections and symptoms, finds a new study in mice led by the Francis Crick Institute.

From The Francis Crick Institute 2 Jul 2019

Large prevention trial launched for people exposed to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

A large clinical trial to assess treatments for preventing people at high risk from developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has begun.

25 Jun 2019

Study reveals novel indicator of protection against influenza virus infection

A study of influenza virus transmission in Nicaraguan households reveals new insights into the type of immune responses that may be protective against influenza virus infection, report investigators.

4 Jun 2019

New fabric can harvest body heat to power small wearable microelectronics

Many wearable biosensors, data transmitters and similar tech advances for personalized health monitoring have now been "creatively miniaturized," says materials chemist Trisha Andrew at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but they require a lot of energy, and power sources can be bulky and heavy.

23 Jan 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers identify molecular causes of necrotizing enterocolitis in preemies

Using a mouse model of necrotizing enterocolitis -- a potentially fatal condition that causes a premature infant's gut to suddenly die -- researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have uncovered the molecular causes of the condition and its associated brain injury.

14 Dec 2018

Mechanisms that govern HIV latency differ in the gut and blood, finds study

Mechanisms that govern HIV transcription and latency differ in the gut and blood, according to a study published November 15 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Steven Yukl of San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues.

16 Nov 2018

Researchers use neutrons to explore complex outer surfaces of E.coli

Researchers have been using neutrons to explore the complex outer surfaces of the bacterium Escherichia coli, and they have revealed in the process, with great precision and detail, how such bacteria interact with their surroundings.

25 Oct 2018

Zika virus vaccine shows promise for treatment of fatal glioblastoma

An international team of researchers has successfully deployed a Zika virus vaccine to target and kill human glioblastoma brain cancer stem cells, which had been transplanted into mice.

18 Sep 2018

Researchers report challenges in reducing tetanus mortality

The overall mortality in patients suffering non-neonatal tetanus is high. Efforts to reduce mortality in one sub-Saharan African intensive care unit by implementing a standard tetanus protocol did little to change mortality rates, although they shifted causes of deaths, researchers have now reported in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

31 Aug 2018

Study provides new insights into how the human immune system protects against Ebola infections

Two types of human antibodies that target different parts of the Ebola virus synergize their antiviral effects by inhibiting different steps of infection, according to a study published August 23 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Philipp Ilinykh and colleagues from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Vanderbilt University, and Ragon Institute.

24 Aug 2018

Could pathogen infection really lead to Alzheimer’s?

New concepts of infectious disease are evolving with the realization that pathogens are key players in the development of progressive chronic diseases that originally were not thought to be infectious. Infection is well-known to be associated with numerous neurological diseases for which...

12 Jan 2017

OIE’s new strategy aims to provide necessary tools to fight antimicrobial resistance more effectively

At the 84th General Session of the World Assembly of National Delegates, the OIE presented to its Members, and proposed for adoption, the basic principles of its new strategy to fight antimicrobial resistance.

26 May 2016

Controlling heart cells using a laser: an interview with Prof. Konstantin Agladze

We control their electrical activity. Cardiac cells are capable of producing and transmitting electric signals through changes in a cell membrane potential.

9 May 2016

Could prebiotics benefit early life brain development? An interview with Dr Phil Burnet

Galacto-oligosaccharides are essentially sugar or saccharide molecules that have been joined together into short polymer chains.

16 Mar 2016

UCSF scientists identify eye drop chemical that may reverse cataracts

A chemical that could potentially be used in eye drops to reverse cataracts, the leading cause of blindness, has been identified by a team of scientists from UC San Francisco (UCSF), the University of Michigan (U-M), and Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL).

6 Nov 2015

UTMB experts honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to study of deadly diseases

The global experts who study the deadliest infectious diseases recognized the contributions of Frederick A. Murphy and Thomas G. Ksiazek, professors at the University of Texas Medical Branch, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6th annual International Symposium on Filoviruses. The filoviruses include Ebola and Marburg viruses that cause death in 50 to 90 percent of people infected. The current outbreak of Ebola virus raging in West Africa has caused more than 100 deaths so far.

16 Apr 2014

Researchers show that vitamin B3 can slow down progression of mitochondrial disease

The researchers of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, have shown that vitamin B3 form nicotinamide riboside can slow down the progression of mitochondrial disease, suggesting its potential as a novel therapy approach to adult-onset mitochondrial muscle diseases.

7 Apr 2014

Clinical trials of new drugs to treat most aggressive form of prostate cancer

Clinical trials of new drugs to treat the most aggressive form of prostate cancer are expected to be underway in Brisbane within three years, thanks to Movember Revolutionary Team Award grant that is fast-tracking global research into the disease.

21 Mar 2014