T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Scientists embark on a five-year study of the effects of soy isoflavones found in dietary supplements on various body tissues

A multidisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is embarking on a comprehensive five-year study of the effects of soy isoflavones found in dietary supplements on various body tissues.

29 Sep 2004

Scientists discover a record number of proteins for the highly infectious and stealthy human cytomegalovirus

Scientists have discovered a record number of proteins for one of the largest and most complex viruses, the highly infectious and stealthy human cytomegalovirus, a team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Oregon Health & Science University reported today in the October Journal of Virology.

29 Sep 2004

Cancer vaccine based on listeria bacteria shows promise

An experimental cancer vaccine using defanged listeria bacteria is showing great promise in animal studies, successfully treating new cancers that have spread into the lungs of mice.

29 Sep 2004

Researchers have identified the mechanism by which marijuana may affect learning and memory

Marijuana use has long been known to cause problems with learning and memory. Now, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified the mechanism by which marijuana may affect activity in the hippocampus

29 Sep 2004

Unrecognized iron deficiency can impair immunity in older women

Iron deficiency, which can masquerade as routine, old-age symptoms, was found to impair measures of immunity from 28 percent to 50 percent in a group of seemingly healthy, well-nourished, homebound, older women, age 60 and above, in a Penn State study.

29 Sep 2004

Bacterium Haemophilus influenza has to secrete a glue-like protein

To stick to cells in the respiratory tract and start an infection, the bacterium Haemophilus influenza has to secrete a glue-like protein. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report this week that a study of the valve that lets out the glue has produced some surprising information.

29 Sep 2004

ID Biomedical awarded US$9.5 million to develop its cell culture-based influenza vaccine

ID Biomedical announced today that it has been awarded a US$9.5 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop its cell culture-based influenza vaccine.

29 Sep 2004

Biomira and Merck announce fast track status for liposome vaccine

Biomira and Merck KGaA have announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track status to the investigation of BLP25 Liposome Vaccine (L-BLP25) for its proposed use in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

29 Sep 2004

Scientists develop rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a pair of rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin, a feat that could underpin new technologies to thwart bioterrorism and spur the development of agents to blunt the toxic action of the world's most poisonous substance.

29 Sep 2004

New technology to diagnose, treat deadly diseases

By developing a new technology to analyze proteins in single human cells, York University professor Sergey Krylov hopes to create a diagnostic ‘Swiss Army Knife’ that can eventually help to diagnose and treat a variety of currently incurable diseases like cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

29 Sep 2004

Last year over 36,000 Americans died from exposure to the flu

Another 200,000 people were hospitalized with symptoms of the illness. The flu and pneumonia (the most common complication of the flu) combined are the fifth leading cause of death among Americans age 65 and older.

29 Sep 2004

Should medical knowledge be extended to enhance the lives of those who are already healthy?

This question and others are addressed in three articles about cosmetic neurology in the September 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Sep 2004

Phase II trials of the first second-generation antisense cancer drug to be used in patients soon to be underway

Phase II trials of the first second-generation antisense cancer drug to be used in patients are soon to be underway in the wake of a successful Phase I study, which has demonstrated that the new drug blocks its target gene in exactly the way it is designed to do.

28 Sep 2004

Arsenic trioxide - invented as a treatment for a rare type of leukaemia

Arsenic trioxide – a highly poisonous substance best known as an effective weed killer or pesticide and notorious for being a favourite ‘weapon’ of choice in murder mystery novels, is being re-invented as a treatment for a rare type of leukaemia.

28 Sep 2004

New hope for patients suffering hormone therapy resitant prostate cancer

New hope was offered today to men with advanced prostate cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy – a persistent problem in prostate cancer treatment.

27 Sep 2004

Active ingredients of soya may help beat breast cancer

Researchers are investigating whether it is possible to turn the active ingredients of soya into a useful medicine that may help to beat breast cancer, the British Pharmaceutical Conference heard today.

27 Sep 2004

New methods for the growth and development of human pancreatic beta islets

Vitro Diagnostics has announced the development of new methods for the growth and development of human pancreatic beta islets (Islets of Langerhans) and the filing of a new patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

27 Sep 2004

Researchers have integrated heart cells grown from human embryonic stem cells into a host heart

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Medical Center have demonstrated that heart cells grown from human embryonic stem cells can integrate into the host heart and help regulate its activity, becoming in effect a biological pacemaker.

27 Sep 2004

Functions of the c-myb gene which leukemia cells depend on for proliferation

Today the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences publishes a paper by Temple University researchers that details one of the functions of the c-myb gene (which leukemia cells depend on for proliferation), the formation of white blood cells.

27 Sep 2004

Marijuana use may increase the risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancies

It is not known whether drugs that block or, in the case of marijuana, over-stimulate the CB1 receptor can cause ectopic pregnancy in humans. However, "our results raise caution for women of reproductive ages regarding the chronic use of marijuana for recreation or pain alleviation," the researchers concluded.

27 Sep 2004