Immune System News and Research

RSS

Bacteria use slimy strategy to defeat antibiotics that fight cystic fibrosis

University of Montana researchers and their partners have discovered a slimy strategy used by bacteria to defeat antibiotics and other drugs used to combat infections afflicting people with cystic fibrosis. The research was published Feb. 23 in the journal Cell Reports.

27 Feb 2021

Biomarkers in the blood can predict severe outcomes in COVID-19 patients

When patients with COVID-19 arrive in emergency rooms, there are relatively few ways for doctors to predict which ones are more likely to become critically ill and require intensive care and which ones are more likely to enjoy a quick recovery.

26 Feb 2021

Immunologists map unknown biological machinery to produce memory T cells

Immunologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have mapped the previously unknown biological machinery by which the immune system generates T cells that kill bacteria, viruses and tumor cells.

26 Feb 2021

Study examines the future psyche of post-COVID-19 traveler

Our deep-rooted survival instinct for disease avoidance could make us less willing to embrace strangers and take foreign travel risks.

26 Feb 2021

Researchers study how glycans activate SARS-CoV-2

One thing that makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, elusive to the immune system is that it is covered in sugars called glycans.

25 Feb 2021

Maternal diet may enhance immune systems of premature infants, study shows

Medical researchers have long understood that a pregnant mother's diet has a profound impact on her developing fetus's immune system and that babies -- especially those born prematurely -- who are fed breast milk have a more robust ability to fight disease, suggesting that even after childbirth, a mother's diet matters.

25 Feb 2021

Research shows how antibodies attach to and block Zika virus

The Zika outbreak of 2015 and 2016 are having lasting impacts on children whose mothers became infected with the virus while they were pregnant.

25 Feb 2021

Researchers discover specific blood biomarker that predicts kidney transplant rejection

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a blood biomarker that predicts kidney transplant rejection with a lead time of about eight months, which could give doctors an opportunity to intervene and prevent permanent damage.

25 Feb 2021

Study reveals key mechanism by which exercise promotes immunity, strengthens bones

Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have identified the specialized environment, known as a niche, in the bone marrow where new bone and immune cells are produced.

25 Feb 2021

'Miracle poison' can target a variety of different proteins

Researchers prove they can engineer proteins called proteases to find new targets with high selectivity, a critical advance toward potential new treatments for everything from neuro-regeneration to cytokine storm.

25 Feb 2021

Lab study of South African SARS-CoV-2 variant and Moderna vaccine: reduced neutralization, but still protective

Researchers from the US recently compared antibody binding and viral neutralization against 2 SARS-CoV-2 variants that emerged in different parts of the world. The researchers used sera from spike mRNA vaccinated and naturally infected individuals against a circulating B.1 variant and the emerging B.1.351 variant. The study is published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

24 Feb 2021

CAR T-cell therapy produces deep, sustained remissions in patients with relapsed myeloma

In a major advance in the treatment of multiple myeloma, a CAR T-cell therapy has generated deep, sustained remissions in patients who had relapsed from several previous therapies, an international clinical trial has found.

24 Feb 2021

Tumors use unique mechanism to switch on regulatory T cells for protection

Immunologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that tumors use a unique mechanism to switch on regulatory T cells to protect themselves from attack by the immune system.

24 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 does not infect the entire body in the same way, finds study

COVID-19, the disease caused by the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is primarily regarded as a respiratory infection. Yet the virus has also become known for affecting other parts of the body in ways not as well understood, sometimes with longer-term consequences, such as heart arrhythmia, fatigue and "brain fog."

24 Feb 2021

AI-based 3D holographic microscopy found to be better at analyzing cancer immunotherapy

Live tracking and analyzing of the dynamics of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting cancer cells can open new avenues for the development of cancer immunotherapy.

24 Feb 2021

GW team to play a role in Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial

The George Washington University announced today its participation in a Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. GW was selected as one of approximately 25 sites in the United States to launch a phase 2 study for its adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

24 Feb 2021