Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Study shows how bats survive the Ebola virus

A new study by researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston uncovered new information on why the Ebola virus can live within bats without causing them harm, while the same virus wreaks deadly havoc to people. This study is now available in Cell Reports.

19 Aug 2020

Rare COVID-19 related illness in children causes profound immune changes

Researchers have uncovered how the immune system is altered in a rare COVID-19 related illness in children referred to as paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS).

18 Aug 2020

Cryo-EM experiments offer important clues to chicken pox infection

Despite decades of study, exactly how herpesviruses invade our cells remains something of a mystery. Now researchers studying one herpesvirus, the varicella zoster virus (VZV) that causes chicken pox, may have found an important clue: A key protein the virus uses to initiate infection does not operate as previously thought, researchers at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory report August 18 in Nature Communications.

18 Aug 2020

Study shows why young, female patients have low response rates to cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy -- empowering a patient's own immune system to clear away tumors on its own -- holds great promise for some patients. But for other patients, immunotherapy just doesn't work.

18 Aug 2020

Researchers identify new therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are advancing understanding of a potential Alzheimer's disease treatment.

18 Aug 2020

Researchers may have discovered the key to treating inflammatory diseases

A Rutgers-led team may have found the key to treating inflammatory diseases like asthma, allergies, chronic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

17 Aug 2020

Mild COVID-19 cases can trigger robust memory T cell responses

Mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can trigger robust memory T cell responses, even in the absence of detectable virus-specific antibody responses, researchers report August 14 in the journal Cell.

17 Aug 2020

With COVID vaccine trial, rural Oregon clinic steps onto world stage

From the outside, it appears to be just another suburban allergy clinic, a tidy, tan brick-and-cinder-block building set back from a busy highway and across the road from an auto parts store.

17 Aug 2020

Pregnant mother's immune conditions linked to behavioral, emotional problems in children with autism

Children with autism born to mothers who had immune conditions during their pregnancy are more likely to have behavioral and emotional problems, a UC Davis Health study has found.

15 Aug 2020

Gene variants help explain link between skin condition and food allergies

Two common variants in the KIF3A gene increase the risk of young children having a dysfunctional skin barrier and developing the skin condition atopic dermatitis.

14 Aug 2020

New research delineates how genetic variations cause atopic dermatitis

New research supported by the National Institutes of Health delineates how two relatively common variations in a gene called KIF3A are responsible for an impaired skin barrier that allows increased water loss from the skin, promoting the development of atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema.

14 Aug 2020

Experimental COVID-19 vaccine prevents severe disease in mice

Now, a novel experimental vaccine that is made from a mild virus genetically-modified to carry an essential gene from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronary disease (COVID-19), has shown promise in preventing pneumonia in mice infected with the virus.

14 Aug 2020

Natural controllers shed light on immunity mechanisms against hepatitis B

Infections in humans caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) represent a major public health problem. Despite the availability of effective protective vaccines, more than 250 million individuals worldwide are chronically infected according to WHO estimates.

13 Aug 2020