Immune System News and Research

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HPV not likely to be transmitted through the hand, shows study

Commonly known as HPV, Human papillomavirus is a virus that infects the skin and genital area, in many cases leading to a variety of genital, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers in men and women. Strong evidence exists showing that penetrative genital sex and oral sex can transmit HPV.

12 Feb 2019

Immunotherapy drug can be effective in treating patients with recurrent brain tumors

A UCLA-led study suggests that for people with recurrent glioblastoma, administering an immunotherapy drug before surgery is more effective than using the drug afterward.

11 Feb 2019

Scientists uncover mechanism that makes aspergillus infection fatal

Researchers at the University of Jena in Germany have discovered how Aspergillus fumigatus suppresses immune defences to enable the infection to become fatal.

11 Feb 2019

Study explores patterns of adenoid and tonsil growth in teenagers

In the most thorough longitudinal study performed to date, X-ray images of children at five developmental stages between the ages of eight and nineteen were carefully measured.

11 Feb 2019

Bone marrow disease is stimulated by vitamin D and immune cells, reveals research

The bone marrow disease myelofibrosis is stimulated by excessive signaling from vitamin D and immune cells known as macrophages, reveals a Japanese research team. These findings could help to develop alternative treatments that do not target problem genes.

11 Feb 2019

Immunotherapy may be better than chemotherapy for Merkel cell carcinoma

The first study of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab as the initial treatment for patients with a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer known as Merkel cell carcinoma reports better responses and longer survival than expected with conventional chemotherapy.

11 Feb 2019

New measurable indicator could prove instrumental in fight against HIV

George Mason University's Yuntao Wu is the lead scientist on a research team that has identified a measurable indicator that could prove instrumental in the fight against HIV.

11 Feb 2019

Scientists create 3D-bioprinted brain model to study interaction with immune cells

Around a glioblastoma, a very aggressive brain tumor, cells of the human immune system start helping the tumor instead of attacking it. To do research on what happens in the interaction of these cells, scientists of the University of Twente now created a 3D-bioprinted mini model of the brain.

11 Feb 2019

Researchers find how Aspergillus fumigatus knocks out immune defenses

Research team from the University of Jena clarifies the mechanism of gliotoxin, a mycotoxin from the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The researchers present their findings in the current issue of the specialist journal Cell Chemical Biology

11 Feb 2019

Metabolic plasticity helps metastatic cancer cells survive hostile environments

When metastatic cancer cells need to avoid a threat, they simply reprogram themselves. Rice University scientists are beginning to get a handle on how they survive hostile environments.

8 Feb 2019

Empa researchers investigate the safety of graphene for humans

Graphene, a single layer of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms, is regarded as the miracle material of the future: it is flexible, transparent, strong, can assume different electrical properties and has the highest thermal conductivity of all known materials.

8 Feb 2019

Researchers generate transplantable, functional B-1 cells from mice

Functional B-1 cells derived from mouse embryonic stem cells are capable of long-term engraftment and secrete natural antibodies after transplantation in mice, researchers report February 7 in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

8 Feb 2019

IDT supports innovative synthetic biology start-ups with grant program

Integrated DNA Technologies’ Synthetic Biology Start-up Grant Program has once again benefited innovative start-ups in their missions to impact sustainable manufacturing, human health, and/or humanitarian causes.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 8 Feb 2019

Caltech scientists develop new methods for rapidly determining T cell targets

The human body's immune system is like a vast team of special agents. Certain cells called T cells each individually specialize in recognizing a particular intruder, such as the influenza virus or salmonella.

8 Feb 2019

Interaction between two immune cells may play key role in fight against dengue virus

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School have demonstrated for the first time a physical interaction between two types of immune cells that plays an important role in the early fight against dengue virus infection.

8 Feb 2019

EU-funded project investigates molecular mechanisms of aging in adult stem cells

Stem cells are the ultimate mother cells of the human body. Not only do they have the capacity to self-renew, they can develop into specific cell types as the body requires. But as the human body ages, the regenerative capacity of our stem cells diminishes.

8 Feb 2019

Immunotherapy drug found to be effective in patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma

A multi-center phase II clinical trial investigating pembrolizumab as a first-line and programmed cell death-1 therapy in patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma reports lasting tumor control, generally manageable side effects and improved overall survival.

8 Feb 2019

Researchers reveal novel computational tool used to analyze genetic variation

The field of genetic sequencing has undergone a dramatic revolution over the past 20 years. In 2001 the first copy of the three billion base pairs that assemble the human genome was published.

8 Feb 2019

New research on viral biology could lead to efficient vaccines against leishmaniasis

New research from McGill University has found that a virus infecting the Leishmania parasite spreads by exploiting a mechanism used for cell-to-cell communication, a discovery that could pave the way to new vaccines against infections that cause severe disfiguration.

8 Feb 2019