T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Researchers determine the sequence in which the malaria parasite disperses from the red blood cells it infects

Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have determined the sequence in which the malaria parasite disperses from the red blood cells it infects. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is one of the Institutes comprising the National Institutes of Health.

19 Sep 2005

Prions rapidly 'remodel' good protein into bad

Two Brown Medical School biologists have figured out the fate of healthy protein when it comes in contact with the infectious prion form in yeast: The protein converts to the prion form, rendering it infectious. In an instant, good protein goes bad.

19 Sep 2005

Discovery that protein CD38 interrupts an interaction between the AIDS virus and its point of entry into cells

Cornell University researchers have discovered the 3-D crystal structure of a protein, human CD38, which may lead to important discoveries about how cells release calcium - a mineral used in almost every cellular process.

19 Sep 2005

Possible new target for treating obesity and diabetes

The new target, a molecule called hVps34, is activated by amino acids (nutrients) entering the cell. This molecule triggers the activation of an enzyme, S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1), whose function UC researchers linked last year to obesity and insulin resistance.

19 Sep 2005

Carbon nanotubes as transport agents for antimycotics (antifungal agents)

Putting pharmaceutical agents into the body isn't hard, but getting them into targeted areas can be problematic. If drugs aren't taken up by a large enough proportion of cells, a suitable "transport agent" must be used.

19 Sep 2005

Compounds found in broccoli, cauliflower, and watercress block lung cancer progression

A family of compounds found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and watercress, blocked lung cancer progression in both animal studies and in tests with human lung cancer cells, report researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center and the Institute for Cancer Prevention.

19 Sep 2005

Researchers detail molecular images of a piece of the spike-shaped protein that the SARS virus uses initiate the first stages of infection

Researchers have determined the first detailed molecular images of a piece of the spike-shaped protein that the SARS virus uses to grab host cells and initiate the first stages of infection.

19 Sep 2005

Tarceva should be tested as front-line therapy for older lung cancer patients

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib (Tarceva) showed encouraging activity with relatively tolerable side effects in elderly, previously untreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), reports a team led by investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

19 Sep 2005

Study suggests chronic infections may create autoimmune response

New research finds the human immune system has foregone evolutionary changes that would allow it to produce better antibodies in less time because the improved antibodies would be far more likely to attack the body's own tissues.

19 Sep 2005

Methoxychlor (MXC), a common insect pesticide may lead to reduced fertility in women

Methoxychlor (MXC), a common insect pesticide used on food crops, may interfere with proper development and function of the reproductive tract, leading to reduced fertility in women, researchers at Yale School of Medicine write in the August issue of Endocrinology.

19 Sep 2005

Drug AMD-3100 may help cancer patients who need stem cell transplants

A new drug may help cancer patients mobilize the cells necessary to restore their blood-forming system after high-dose chemotherapy, according to results from a clinical trial at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and at other centers across the nation.

19 Sep 2005

Spread of bird flu to the United States is a "time bomb waiting to go off"

One of the government's top scientists said Monday that the spread of bird flu to the United States is a "time bomb waiting to go off" but that federal and industry efforts to produce a vaccine are progressing.

12 Sep 2005

Cellular mechanism discovery could lead to new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease

A major finding by researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) has identified a previously unknown cellular mechanism that acts as an off switch for immune system function.

12 Sep 2005

Screening test for cells that activate immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are the first to create a large-scale, cell-based screening method that identifies which compounds activate immune-response cells that hold promise for future cancer-fighting vaccines.

12 Sep 2005

Discovery of mechanism linking color vision and cancer genes

Biologists at New York University have discovered a system by which a random choice between two distinct cellular fates in the fruit fly eye becomes firmly established.

12 Sep 2005

Nuclear receptor proteins could change anti-inflammatory treatments

Several nuclear receptor proteins appear to overlap in their ability to exert anti-inflammatory effects, according to new research by scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

12 Sep 2005

Amantadine resistant avian influenza viruses more common in Southeast Asia than North America

Resistance to the antiviral drug amantadine is spreading more rapidly among avian influenza viruses of H5N1 subtype in Southeast Asia than in North America, according to the study done by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

12 Sep 2005

Clioquinol appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease

Clioquinol, an antibiotic that was banned for internal use in the United States in 1971 but is still used in topical applications, appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease in mice and in cell culture, according to a study reported by San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) researchers.

12 Sep 2005

Key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells

In many patients with type 2 diabetes, the liver acts like a sugar factory on overtime, churning out glucose throughout the day, even when blood sugar levels are high. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells.

12 Sep 2005

Workshop - stem cells in reproduction and in the brain

"Once we have found the factors by which body cells can be re-programmed into stem cells, then therapeutic cloning might become superfluous," said Hans R. Scholer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Munster, Germany, at an international scientific symposium on stem cell research in Kobe, Japan.

10 Sep 2005