Immune System News and Research

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Maternal stress during pregnancy could affect baby's sex and birth outcomes

It's becoming well established that maternal stress during pregnancy can affect fetal and child development as well as birth outcomes, and a new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian now identifies the types of physical and psychological stress that may matter most.

14 Oct 2019

Ludwig scientists develop robust method to refine personalized cancer immunotherapy

Ludwig Cancer Research scientists have developed a new and more accurate method to identify the molecular signs of cancer likely to be presented to helper T cells, which stimulate and orchestrate the immune response to tumors and infectious agents.

14 Oct 2019

New system can help the immune system spot and eliminate tumors

Cancer cells are masters at avoiding detection, but a new system developed by Yale scientists can make them stand out from the crowd and help the immune system spot and eliminate tumors that other forms of immunotherapies might miss, the researchers report Oct. 14 in the journal Nature Immunology.

14 Oct 2019

New Penn Medicine study unravels the early makings of an exhausted T cell

The immune system struggles to defeat cancer or chronic infections because many of the T cells that leap into action end up "exhausted," rendering them ineffective against disease.

14 Oct 2019

Rotavirus plays role in development of type 1 diabetes

A new article published in the journal PLOS Pathogens on October 10, 2019, claims that the common rotavirus may be responsible for the occurrence of type 1 diabetes, a form of diabetes which occurs in children and is due to destruction of the pancreatic islet cells that produce the hormone insulin to normalize blood glucose levels.

13 Oct 2019

Antibody-based eye drop treatment reduces signs and symptoms of dry eye disease

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to identify the presence of a specific type of antibody, called anti-citrullinated protein autoantibodies, or ACPAs, in human tear fluid.

11 Oct 2019

Live-cell, genetically engineered pig skin used for temporary closure of a burn wound

Burn specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital announced today they have successfully used live-cell, genetically engineered pig skin (xenograft) for the temporary closure of a burn wound.

11 Oct 2019

€7.6 million ERC Synergy grant to support research on molecular mechanisms of viral infection

The interdisciplinary team wants to investigate the molecular mechanisms of viral infection, which will contribute to fundamental knowledge about cellular regulation and new concepts for broad-spectrum anti-viral therapy. The funding amounts to 7.6 million euros.

11 Oct 2019

New study shows how immune cells process and use energy

For years, scientists have used cells grown in petri dishes to study the metabolic processes that fuel the immune system. But a new report in Immunity suggests looking outside the dish and into living organisms gives a drastically different view of the way immune cells process and use energy.

11 Oct 2019

Vaccine against gastrin may slow spread of pancreatic cancer

New research suggests a vaccine that blocks a digestive hormone may slow the spread of pancreatic cancer, potentially increasing survival rates. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for October.

10 Oct 2019

Fetal gut has more well-developed immune capabilities than previously thought

Most biology textbooks explain that the fetal immune system is largely undeveloped and that it learns after being exposed to the world at birth. New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh challenges that paradigm, and provides the first comprehensive look at the immune system of the developing gut.

10 Oct 2019

Scientists show how the immune system reacts to Ebola vaccine

Following the dramatic Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2013 to 2016, viral infections have spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2018. Since then, more than 2,100 deaths have been reported and the number of victims and new infections increases daily.

10 Oct 2019

Scientists uncover details of antibody response to Ebola virus vaccine

In the recurring, deadly Ebola outbreaks in parts of Africa, today's health workers now have at least some tools to fight the disease: vaccines. Vaccines against Ebola have been administered to over 100,000 people to date, but they are barely out of the experimental stage.

10 Oct 2019

Scientists find new evidence on latent HIV reservoir

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can suppress HIV to the point where the virus is nearly undetectable, and people on medication can live many years.

10 Oct 2019

How do gallstones form?

The human body is known to produce stones in various locations, most commonly in the kidneys, the bladder, the gallbladder and the appendix. Many of these stones appear without any obvious reason. However, a new study published in the journal Immunity shows the whole storyline for the first time: how gallstones are formed.

9 Oct 2019

New algorithm hand-picks which cancer mutations are promising targets for immunotherapy

As tumor cells multiply, they often spawn tens of thousands of genetic mutations. Figuring out which ones are the most promising to target with immunotherapy is like finding a few needles in a haystack.

9 Oct 2019

Initial use of ART alters host environment to allow formation of long-lived HIV reservoir

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can suppress HIV to the point where the virus is nearly undetectable, and people on medication can live many years. But therapy cannot completely eradicate the virus; it persists in reservoirs inside immune cells, a phenomenon called "latency."

9 Oct 2019

Researchers discover most virulent representatives of listeriosis pathogen

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a life-threatening infection in animals and humans. Contaminated food is a frequent source of infection. Elderly people, people with a weakened immune system and pregnant women are particularly at risk with a mortality rate of up to 30 per cent.

9 Oct 2019

Scientists demonstrate potential method for treating advanced liver cancers

Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The most common primary liver cancer in adults is known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and accounts for approximately 780,000 deaths every year.

9 Oct 2019