Immune System News and Research

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New strategy could prevent side effects of targeted cancer treatment

Targeted, highly effective cancer treatments often produce debilitating side effects. This is the case with one commonly used therapy which works by blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor, a protein that stimulates cell proliferation.

13 Dec 2019

Scientists develop an approach to vaccinate against gut inflammation

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term that describes many disorders that involve chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These conditions are tied to certain alternations in the gut flora.

12 Dec 2019

Rice University study aims to clarify microscopic aspects of cancer initiation

When do cancer-prone cells turn into full-blown cancer? A Rice University scientist and his colleague believe there's a way to know.

12 Dec 2019

JDRF announces more than $8 million in new funds to accelerate cutting-edge T1D research

JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, announced that it has committed 23 training grants, totaling more than $8 million in new funds to accelerate T1D research and the next generation of T1D experts, representing 9 states, as well as Australia, France, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, in partnership with 20 institutions.

12 Dec 2019

NIH-funded research finds differences in energy use by immune T cells in ME/CFS

New findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggest that specific immune T cells from people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) show disruptions in the way they produce energy.

12 Dec 2019

Dendritic cells could lead to better treatments for persistent infections, cancer

Autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn's disease plague tens of millions of Americans and are the result of the body's immune system, whose role is to fight against disease-causing pathogens, turning against itself.

12 Dec 2019

Yale scientists flip the script on novel cancer therapy to find new insights into lupus

In the last decade, scientists discovered that blocking a key regulator of the immune system helped unleash the body's natural defenses against several forms of cancer, opening up a new era of cancer immunotherapy.

11 Dec 2019

UCLA scientists discover reason for higher rates of autoimmune disease in women than men

UCLA scientists have discovered one reason why autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women than in men.

11 Dec 2019

Immune cells repair damaged gut in children with IBD

According to a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology, immune cells of a certain kind which regulate inflammatory processes and even help restore normal gut function after inflammation could be of great use to treat children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

11 Dec 2019

New system enables real-time observations of individual cells in the colon

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a system that allows for real-time observations of individual cells in the colon of a living mouse.

11 Dec 2019

New approach to alter intestinal microbiota and protect against inflammatory diseases

Targeted immunization against bacterial flagellin, a protein that forms the appendage that enables bacterial mobility, can beneficially alter the intestinal microbiota, decreasing the bacteria's ability to cause inflammation and thus protecting against an array of chronic inflammatory diseases, according to a new study by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences and the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University.

11 Dec 2019

UMSOM researchers to test the safety, tolerability of prototype Shigella-ETEC vaccine

Each year, millions of people contract serious diarrheal illnesses typically from contaminated food and water. Among the biggest causes of diarrheal diseases are the bacteria Shigella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are testing a vaccine designed to offer protection against these serious pathogens.

10 Dec 2019

Researchers find another piece of puzzle relating to bird flu viruses

Normally, bird flu viruses do not spread easily from person to person. But if this does happen, it could trigger a pandemic. Researchers from the MDC and RKI have now explained in the journal Nature Communications what makes the leap from animals to humans less likely.

10 Dec 2019

Modifier gene offers a likely explanation for less infection in some patients with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is caused by an inherited mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.

10 Dec 2019

ERC promotes CRISPR research to better treat infections

Chase Beisel heads the "Synthetic Biology of RNA" research group at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg, a branch of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and run in collaboration with the Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Würzburg.

10 Dec 2019