Immune System News and Research

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Defective molecular master switch could lead to age-related macular degeneration

A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration.

22 Jan 2019

Scientists find bacterial extracellular vesicles in human blood

Belgian scientists have come to the surprising finding that vesicles coming from gut bacteria, are present in blood of patients with HIV, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.

22 Jan 2019

Fueling macrophages with energy to attack and eat cancer cells

Immune cells called macrophages are supposed to serve and protect, but cancer has found ways to put them to sleep. Now researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they've identified how to fuel macrophages with the energy needed to attack and eat cancer cells.

21 Jan 2019

FSU study provides better understanding of spinal cord injuries

Thousands of people worldwide suffer severe spinal cord injuries each year, but little is known about why these injuries often continue to deteriorate long after the initial damage occurs.

21 Jan 2019

High fat reduces efficiency of the immune system to fight infectious disease

APC Microbiome Ireland scientists based at University College Cork have shown for the first time that a high fat "western" diet reduces the efficiency of the immune system to fight infectious disease particularly in the gut, and to infection with the foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes.

21 Jan 2019

Many parents still try non-evidence-based cold prevention methods for children

Vitamin C to keep the germs away. Never go outside with wet hair. Stay inside. Despite little or no evidence suggesting these types of methods actually help people avoid catching or preventing a cold, more than half of parents have tried them with their kids, according to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan.

21 Jan 2019

Immune checkpoint inhibitors induce rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases

Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a form of cancer treatment immunotherapy currently under research. The therapy targets immune checkpoints, key regulators of the immune system that stimulate or inhibit its actions, which tumors can use to protect themselves from attacks by the immune system.

18 Jan 2019

Innovative ‘light’ method demonstrates positive results in fight against malignant tumors

A team of scientists from the National University of Science and Technology "MISIS", the Moscow Technological University and the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University has experimentally proved the effectiveness of the formerly suggested "light" method in oncotherapy.

18 Jan 2019

UCLA researchers demonstrate new technique to develop cancer-fighting T cells

A study by UCLA researchers is the first to demonstrate a technique for coaxing pluripotent stem cells -- which can give rise to every cell type in the body and which can be grown indefinitely in the lab -- into becoming mature T cells capable of killing tumor cells.

18 Jan 2019

Newly developed risk score more effective at identifying type 1 diabetes

A new way of screening babies and adults for future risk of type 1 diabetes will be much more effective at identifying the condition than current methods, new research has concluded.

18 Jan 2019

Stem cell-based approach to diabetes offers hope for treatment

Researchers developed a new stem-cell based approach to treating diabetes that improves how recipients respond to fluctuating glucose levels in the blood.

17 Jan 2019

Chaos in bodily regulation can optimize our immune system, finds study

Chaos in bodily regulation can optimize our immune system according to a recent discovery made by researchers at the University of Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute. The discovery may prove to be of great significance for avoiding serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

17 Jan 2019

Study pinpoints immune cells that could be key to tackling hypertension

Scientists have pinpointed cells in the immune system that could be key to tackling high blood pressure.

16 Jan 2019

New project receives €8.65 million from EU and Canada to ease genomic, health data sharing

The European Union and the Canadian government have awarded the international iReceptor Plus consortium, which is composed of more than 20 partners, €8.65 million to promote human immunological data storage, integration and controlled sharing for a wide range of clinical and scientific purposes.

16 Jan 2019

Poo transplant can successfully treat patients with ulcerative colitis

Poo transplant or "Fecal microbiota transplantation" can successfully treat patients with ulcerative colitis, new research from the University of Adelaide shows.

16 Jan 2019

New immune response regulators discovered

The discovery was published in the new iScience journal for interdisciplinary research by Cell Press. The newly discovered regulatory proteins differ significantly from the regulators in mouse immune cells which have been reported earlier. Some of the proteins, such as SATB1 regulating the transcription of several genes, function in the opposite way in human compared to mouse.

16 Jan 2019

Researchers identify MANF as a rejuvenating factor in parabiosis

Older mice who are surgically joined with young mice in order to share a common bloodstream get stronger and healthier, making parabiosis one of the hottest topics in age research. Publishing in Nature Metabolism, researchers from the Buck Institute report that MANF (mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor) is one of the factors responsible for rejuvenating the transfused older mice.

16 Jan 2019

Research finds how Candida albicans adapt to low oxygen levels to cause infection

Scientists from Umeå university have shown how the yeast Candida albicans can modulate and adapt to low oxygen levels in different body niches to cause infection and to harm the host.

16 Jan 2019

Multiple sclerosis could benefit from stem cell therapy

Patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) have benefited from an experimental stem cell therapy. MS is an autoimmune disease where the central nervous system is affected. It is severely debilitating and means a slow and progressive death for the patients.

16 Jan 2019

Researchers identify a key regulator that stops excessive inflammation

A component has been identified by researchers in Umeå as a novel regulator of the immune system. It acts as a molecular switch to deactivate the innate immune system and has the ability to prevent certain diseases caused by an excessive activation of the immune system.

15 Jan 2019