T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Researchers identify a pattern in cancer’s chromosomal chaos

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the UCL Cancer Institute have identified how different cancers go through some of the same genetic mutations at the same point in their evolution.

3 Sep 2020

Lysin-based antibacterial agent can help treat drug-resistant bacterial infections

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has prioritized finding effective treatment of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the most common bacterial pathogens and the single most deadly drug-resistant bacteria in the United States.

3 Sep 2020

Researchers identify properties in placenta tissue that may prevent COVID-19 transmission

Researchers from Boston Medical Center's Maxwell Finland Laboratory for Infectious Diseases have identified properties in placenta tissue that may play an important role in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 from a mother with the virus to her fetus.

3 Sep 2020

New approach can make immunotherapy effective against cancers

If cancer is a series of puzzles, a new study pieces together how several of those puzzles connect to form a bigger picture.

3 Sep 2020

Study shows why coronavirus is more dangerous in people with comorbidities

Why is the COVID-19 virus more dangerous in people with comorbidities?. Sadis Matalon, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and colleagues in Texas and San Francisco asked that question in a hypothesis paper published online in Physiological Reviews on March 27.

3 Sep 2020

Antibody responses in recovered COVID-19 individuals from India

India has been hit hard by COVID-19, with at least 66,000 deaths and almost 4 million cases. The need to understand the infection, including the various antibody isotypes, and whether neutralizing antibodies and memory B cells are being produced, has driven much research into the way immunity is developing in Indian patients.

3 Sep 2020

Experimental drug for ALS shows promising results in clinical trial

An experimental medication slows the progression of the neurodegenerative disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to recently released results from a clinical trial run by investigators at the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company that manufactures the medication.

2 Sep 2020

UC San Diego participates in second, massive clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine

UC San Diego Health will be part of a second, massive clinical trial to assess the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of a vaccine designed to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

2 Sep 2020

Combined point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing increases COVID-19 detection

A Cambridge hospital has piloted the use of combined rapid point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection after researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that this approach was superior to virus detection alone for diagnosing COVID-19 disease.

2 Sep 2020

Honeybee venom induces cancer cell death in aggressive breast cancer

The new study, published in the journal Nature Precision Oncology, highlights how bees can help combat breast cancer. The research team found that when the venom’s main component, when mixed with existing chemotherapy drugs, reduced tumor growth in laboratory mice.

2 Sep 2020

Study identifies subtypes and developmental process of novel immune T cells

There are memory cells that remember previously encountered pathogens and help to react quickly and strongly when exposed to them again.

2 Sep 2020

Existing drug masitinib identified as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated that a drug originally developed as a treatment for cancer exhibits antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2 Sep 2020

Scientists identify key driver in BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma

Targeted therapy with BRAF-MEK inhibitors is an effective treatment for patients with advanced melanoma that cannot be surgically removed or has spread to other areas of the body.

2 Sep 2020

Exponential rise in COVID-19 hospitalization risk with age due to waning T cell immunity

The age-related increase in the risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 mirrors earlier patterns seen with infections. Such trends may help understand the mechanisms underlying the clinical feature. A recent study published in the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 shows the effect of age and sex on COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the USA and helps understand how immune function is involved in this pandemic.

2 Sep 2020

Study: BIRC2 overexpression could be a key marker for immunotherapy resistance

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have added to evidence that a gene responsible for turning off a cell's natural "suicide" signals may also be the culprit in making breast cancer and melanoma cells resistant to therapies that use the immune system to fight cancer.

2 Sep 2020

ACE2/TMPRSS2 not expressed in pancreatic islet endocrine cells

A new study by researchers at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 reports that both key enzymes that are required for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) entry into the human host cell are lacking in the beta cells of the pancreatic islet. This rules out the direct injury hypothesis for impaired glucose control in patients with COVID-19 disease.

1 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2-RNA viremia is a robust marker of critical illness in COVID-19

A new study by a large team of Spanish researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 reports that the presence of viral RNA in the blood is a useful marker of impending acute disease and can help triage COVID-19 disease patients who will require hospital care.

1 Sep 2020

Study identifies important regulator of neuron function and survival

Scientists studying neuronal energy metabolism found evidence that the loss of an important energy regulator called AMPK in neural stem cells or glial cells called astrocytes causes neuronal death in laboratory rodents.

1 Sep 2020

Negligible ACE2 expression in human beta-cells

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv reports that even though the fatality rate is significantly higher in diabetics, there is no evidence that this is due to direct viral infection of pancreatic beta cells, which produce the key hormone in glucose homeostasis, namely insulin.

1 Sep 2020

Excessive immune response plays an important role in severe Covid-19

The team from Marien Hospital and the department of Virology of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) as well as the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, the Clinic of Anesthesiology and the Institute for Virology of University Medicine Essen studied specific antibodies and T cells occurring in recovered, seriously ill and deceased Covid-19 patients.

1 Sep 2020