Immune System News and Research

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Synthetic nanobodies prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of researchers from the University of California San Francisco has created a powerful nasal spray or inhaler that can provide high-grade protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The report is presently available on the bioRvix* preprint server.

13 Aug 2020

Researchers discover how gut bacteria help the immune system to battle cancerous tumors

Researchers with the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at the Cumming School of Medicine have discovered which gut bacteria help our immune system battle cancerous tumors and how they do it.

13 Aug 2020

Study shows how viruses operate and evade the immune system

University of Otago researchers have learnt more about how viruses operate and can evade the immune system and are now using their discovery to help learn more about COVID-19.

13 Aug 2020

Developing a blood test for prostate cancer

Professor Pockley among researchers from the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre have recently developed a blood test for the detection of prostate cancer.

13 Aug 2020

Genes on the X chromosome may be key to melanoma survival advantage in females

Centenary Institute scientists have discovered that genes on the X chromosome may be key to the improved survival rates of females with melanoma–as compared to their male counterparts.

13 Aug 2020

Researchers outline how Zika virus suppresses the host immune system

A research team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has outlined how the Zika virus, which constituted an epidemic threat in 2016, suppresses the immune system of its host.

12 Aug 2020

Researchers develop an integrated technology for seeing into cells at greater detail

Invading cells' private space - prying into their internal functions, decisions and communications - could be a powerful tool that may help researchers develop new immunotherapy treatment for cancer.

12 Aug 2020

Acupuncture can tame cytokine storm in mice with systemic inflammation

A team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School has successfully used acupuncture to tame cytokine storm in mice with systemic inflammation.

12 Aug 2020

New techniques help replace malfunctioning microglia associated with neurological disorders

Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai, China have developed three different techniques that successfully replace almost all malfunctioning microglia - each technique with its own advantage in application

12 Aug 2020

Study reveals new clues about SARS-CoV-2 infection

Working together, researchers at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo are searching for how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects the lungs - and they're challenging what has become an accepted truth about the virus.

12 Aug 2020

COMBAT study shows how pancreatic cancer patients can benefit from immunotherapy

Working with an international team of researchers, HonorHealth Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope, were instrumental in one of the first clinical trials showing how pancreatic cancer patients can benefit from immunotherapy, according to a four-year study published in a premier scientific journal, Nature Medicine.

11 Aug 2020

Mouse study shows potential new way to unlock the power of immunotherapy for cancer patients

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by stimulating the patient's own immune system to attack cancer cells, yielding remarkably quick and complete remission in some cases. But such drugs work for less than a quarter of patients because tumors are notoriously adept at evading immune assault.

11 Aug 2020

Focusing on human enzymes and not SARS-CoV-2 could help treat COVID-19

Now, breakthrough research into malaria suggests targeting enzymes from the human host, rather than from the pathogen itself. The new research could pave the way for effective treatments for a wide range of infectious diseases, including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

11 Aug 2020

Stanford study reveals immunological deviations and lapses in severe COVID-19 cases

Some people get really sick from COVID-19, and others don't. Nobody knows why.

11 Aug 2020

Protein uses two different mechanisms to inhibit viral infections

To protect humans against infection, a protein called MARCH8 tags the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) for destruction while it merely holds HIV hostage, a new study in eLife shows.

11 Aug 2020

New research on COVID-19 and aging

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that genetic factors, chronic disease, and biological aging define the relationship between aging and the severity of COVID-19.

11 Aug 2020

Only half of pregnant women worldwide get treatment for preventable Rh disease

Only half of pregnant women worldwide who need a treatment developed over 50 years ago to prevent Rh disease--an often-fatal condition in fetuses and newborns that is now exceedingly rare in the United States and Western Europe--actually receive it, finds a study led by researchers at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

10 Aug 2020

NIH supports research on how pathogens evolve

For several years, physicist John Barton at the University of California, Riverside, has been working on developing models to understand and predict how pathogens, such as HIV, evolve. This research pursuit has just received support from the National Institutes of Health.

10 Aug 2020

People may have a pre-existing immune response to COVID-19 thanks to common colds

Now, a new study shows that some people have immune responses against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, thanks to how the body reacted the last time it caught a cold. This means that even if a person has not been exposed to the novel coronavirus, the body has a memory of it and can trigger an immune response to fight the infection.

10 Aug 2020

Cutting edge synthetic peptides block SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

Researchers at Ligandal Inc., the University of California San Francisco and Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, have designed novel synthetic peptides that potently inhibit the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells.

9 Aug 2020