Dendritic Cell News and Research

Latest Dendritic Cell News and Research

Dendritic cells ensure immune tolerance

One of the most important tasks of the immune system is to identify what is foreign and what is self. If this distinction fails, then the body's own structures will be attacked, the result of which could be an autoimmune disease such as diabetes mellitus type 1 or multiple sclerosis. The only way to protect against these afflictions is to destroy all immune factors that turn against the body's own tissue - in other words: immune tolerance.

16 Mar 2009

Breakthrough improves effectiveness of tuberculosis vaccine

A breakthrough strategy to improve the effectiveness of the only tuberculosis vaccine approved for humans provided superior protection against the deadly disease in a pre-clinical test, report scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in Nature Medicine 's Advance Online Publication March 1.

8 Mar 2009

Better understanding of immune system activation

Linda Andersson at Malmo University in Sweden has studied the ability of dendritic cells to sample the surrounding environment. To understand how different materials are taken up and what happens within the cells can for example facilitate the development of new vaccines.

3 Mar 2009

New discovery improves efficacy of current tuberculosis vaccine

A new article appearing in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology may lead to improvements in the efficacy of the current tuberculosis vaccine.

26 Feb 2009

Good bacteria may provide effective vehicle for an oral vaccine against anthrax

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that the good bacteria found in dairy products and linked to positive health benefits in the human body might also be an effective vehicle for an oral vaccine that can provide immunity to anthrax exposure.

17 Feb 2009

Dendritic cells as a new player in arteries and heart valves

In 1973, Ralph M. Steinman launched a new scientific discipline when he published his discovery of the dendritic cell, an odd-shaped player in the immune system.

16 Feb 2009

First immune danger receptor' found

Cancer Research UK scientists have found the first biological receptor that alerts the immune system to 'dangerous' or abnormal cell death, according to research published in Nature.

16 Feb 2009

Oncostatin M may be a promising drug for treating viral hepatitis and liver cancer

This research, coordinated by the doctors Jesús Prieto, Esther Larrea, Pablo Sarobe, Iranzu González and Rafael Aldabe, has been published in the Journal of Virology ; a journal of the American Society of Microbiology.

9 Feb 2009

Ritalin may change brain in same way cocaine does

A common treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, prescribed millions of times a year, may change the brain in the same ways that cocaine does, a new study in mice suggests.

5 Feb 2009

Molecule that suppresses immune response under study in type 1 diabetes

The idea is to teach the immune system of children at high risk for type 1 diabetes not to attack the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

5 Feb 2009

Stat3 signaling tips the balance of immunity in favor of cancer

New research reveals how a cancer-associated protein enables tumor cells to evade the immune system by both suppressing antitumor influences and promoting tumor-enhancing conditions, in essence turning the immune system to the dark side of the force.

2 Feb 2009

New insights into growth factor's role in brain development

New research sheds light on a neural growth factor called proBDNF, finding that it is present and potentially active during the perinatal period when the brain's circuitry and memory-encoding regions are being refined.

2 Feb 2009

Helicobacter pylori can multiply in autophagic vesicles

Helicobacter pylori , a Gram-negative, flagellated, microaerophilic bacterium, can selectively colonize in the human stomach.

29 Jan 2009

Component of DNA stimulates and suppresses the immune response

A component of DNA that can both stimulate and suppress the immune system, depending on the dosage, may hold hope for treating cancer and infection, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

29 Jan 2009

Implants mimic infection to rally immune system against tumors

Bioengineers at Harvard University have shown that small plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin can reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors.

23 Jan 2009

Biodegradable nanoprobe images new blood vessel growth

Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, plays a critical role in several chronic human diseases, including metastatic cancer. In fact, several new anticancer therapies are designed to starve tumors by shutting down angiogenesis, but the lack of a good assay for quantifying angiogenesis in the body has hampered the development of effective antiangiogenesis therapies.

18 Jan 2009

Gene therapy kills brain tumors through selective recruitment of immune cells

Scientists seeking to harness the power of the immune system to eradicate brain tumors face two major hurdles: recruiting key immune cells called dendritic cells into areas of the brain where they are not naturally found and helping them recognize tumor cells as targets for attack.

13 Jan 2009

Discovery of new regulatory circuit controlling immune cell production in mice

Using a mouse model, researchers have shown that elevated levels of a small protein known as interleukin 7 (IL-7) plays a central role in regulating the production of a type of white blood cell that is required for effective immune responses.

12 Jan 2009

A new mechanism regulates type I interferon production in white blood cells

A study from a team of researchers led by Dr. Andrew P. Makrigiannis, Director of the Molecular Immunology Research Unit at the IRCM, has identified a new mechanism regulating interferon production.

12 Jan 2009

Active Hexose Correlated Compound shown to enhances immune system by increasing production of key dendritic cells

A recently published study in Nutrition and Cancer (60(5), 643-651) by researchers at Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Japan has shown that AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) enhances immune function by increasing the number of dendritic cells (DCs).

6 Jan 2009