Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Beta-blockers could be used to treat COVID-19, study finds

Beta-blockers could potentially be used to treat COVID-19, according to a new international study by Italian and Australian scientists.

3 Nov 2020

Blood vessel malformations originate in vein cells

In the condition known as cavernoma, lesions arise in a cluster of blood vessels in the brain, spinal cord or retina. Researchers from Uppsala University can now show, at molecular level, that these changes originate in vein cells.

3 Nov 2020

Study sheds new light on how the immune system remembers viruses

For a person to acquire immunity to a disease, T cells must develop into memory cells after contact with the pathogen.

2 Nov 2020

Study reveals seven “forms of disease” in COVID-19

In a study recently published in the top journal "Allergy", a team of MedUni Vienna scientists led by immunologist Winfried F. Pickl and allergologist Rudolf Valenta (both from the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology) showed that there are seven "forms of disease" in COVID-19.

2 Nov 2020

Study: COVID-19 lockdowns increase the number of polio cases in Pakistan

A spike in the number of polio cases in Pakistan — the last refuge of the virus in the world along with neighbouring Afghanistan — is being attributed by health experts to disruption in vaccination services caused by lockdowns and restrictions against spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 Nov 2020

Drug used to control blood pressure may improve cancer patients’ response to immunotherapy

The same biochemical triggers that spur a "fight or flight" response when we encounter threats may help tumor cells to thrive.

30 Oct 2020

First-of-its-kind synthetic DNA vaccine designed against Powassan virus

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have designed and tested the first-of-its-kind synthetic DNA vaccine against Powassan virus (POWV), targeting portions of the virus envelope protein.

30 Oct 2020

Researchers show how allergens are detected by the immune system

A key step in the immune system's response to allergens has been uncovered by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

30 Oct 2020

Human immune system may play key role in shaping the microbiome composition

The gut is an unusually noisy place, where hundreds of species of bacteria live alongside whatever microbes happen to have hitched a ride in on your lunch.

30 Oct 2020

COVID-19 study: Researchers recruit frontline workers to identify asymptomatic individuals

Fifteen hundred frontline workers are being recruited for a yearlong study to find what percentage are positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, what percentage become positive and whether the antibodies they produce protect them from reinfection.

30 Oct 2020

UH and CWRU announce Phase 3 trial of Astrazeneca's investigational COVID-19 vaccine

University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University announced today that UH Cleveland Medical Center has been selected as a clinical trial site for the Phase 3 global study of an investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, sponsored by AstraZeneca.

29 Oct 2020

Protein tenascin-C plays a role in glaucoma by regulating inflammatory processes

Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have studied the role of the immune response in the development of glaucoma in mice.

29 Oct 2020

New method could help increase effectiveness of vaccines against coronavirus

A University at Buffalo-led research team has discovered a technique that could help increase the effectiveness of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19.

29 Oct 2020

Scientists uncover surprising players in acute liver failure

Acute liver failure is a devastating, rapidly progressing disease that results in death in 80% of cases, unless an emergency liver transplant is performed. In the developed world, its leading cause is a substantial overdose of acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol.

27 Oct 2020

Study reveals human protein that helps the immune system fight viral infections

University of North Carolina School of Medicine scientists has made a curious discovery about a well-known human protein that helps the immune system fight viral infections.

27 Oct 2020

Researchers identify effective way to protect vulnerable people from COVID-19

T-cells taken from the blood of people who recovered from a COVID-19 infection can be successfully multiplied in the lab and maintain the ability to effectively target proteins that are key to the virus's function, according to a new study published Oct. 26 in Blood.

27 Oct 2020

Study: 90% of patients have detectable antibodies up to 7 months post contracting COVID-19

A new study led by Marc Veldhoen, principal investigator at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM; Portugal) with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL) and Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte (CHLN) and collaborators at Instituto Português do Sangue e Transplantação (IPST), shows that 90% of subjects have detectable antibodies 40 days up to 7 months post contracting COVID-19.

23 Oct 2020

New technique could propel personalized cancer treatments

When it comes to defeating cancer, some immune cells are mightier than others. But even the best-trained eye and today's advanced scientific tools have trouble discerning the most powerful tumor-fighting cells from the rest.

23 Oct 2020

Researchers develop lab-grown lung model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of Duke University researchers has developed a lab-grown living lung model that mimics the tiny air sacs of the lungs where coronavirus infection and serious lung damage take place.

23 Oct 2020

New therapeutic approach for treating patients with compromised immune systems

A young woman who had been hospitalized for three months straight due to debilitating, recurrent infections with no apparent underlying cause was finally able to go home thanks to a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) team who put their heads together, discovered a root of the problem, and developed a novel treatment strategy just for her.

23 Oct 2020