Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Elsevier launches new open access journal: Transplantation Reports

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services today announces the launch of Transplantation Reports, a new online-only open access journal covering all areas of transplantation.

12 Feb 2016

Transition to family foods drives development of infant gut microbiota

After the age of nine months, the development of the infant gut microbiota is driven by the transition to family foods, not maternal obesity, according to results from a new study. The study was published online this week in mSphere, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

11 Feb 2016

Higher intake of food-based vitamin D during pregnancy linked to reduced risk of allergies in children

Higher intake of foods containing vitamin D during pregnancy - but not supplemental vitamin D intake - was associated with reduced risk of development of allergies in children, according to a study led by an investigator from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

11 Feb 2016

UM SOM researchers reveal genetic makeup of various strains of E. coli

A multi-disciplinary group of researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have for the first time determined the genetic makeup of various strains of E. coli, which every year kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

9 Feb 2016

Gut microbes influence severity of malaria

Microorganisms in the gut could play a role in reducing the severity of malaria, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Louisville.

9 Feb 2016

UIC researchers discover molecular switch that allows salmonella bacteria to fight immune system

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular regulator that allows salmonella bacteria to switch from actively causing disease to lurking in a chronic but asymptomatic state called a biofilm.

7 Feb 2016

Early use of influenza drug in pregnant women with flu may reduce length of stay in hospital

Pregnant women are at higher risk for serious illness and complications, including death, from influenza. For expectant mothers hospitalized with flu, early treatment with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir may shorten their time in the hospital, especially in severe cases, suggests a new study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and available online.

5 Feb 2016

Innate lymphoid cells get destroyed in patients infected with HIV

A research project headed by Henrik Kloeverpris, a postdoc at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen, shows that the so-called ILCs (innate lymphoid cells) - a component of the immune system crucial to maintaining immune system balance - are destroyed in patients infected with HIV.

4 Feb 2016

Immunological changes during pregnancy may influence response to influenza vaccination

In a study to be presented on Feb. 5 in an oral concurrent session at 1:15 p.m. EST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Atlanta, researchers will present findings from a study titled, T-follicular helper (Thf) cell expansion varies by trimester after influenza vaccination in pregnancy.

2 Feb 2016

Radiation could increase responses to innovative immune-based therapeutic approaches to fight cancer

A team of Georgia State University researchers is fighting cancers using a combination of therapies and recently found ways that radiation could maximize responses to novel immune-based therapeutic approaches to fight cancer.

1 Feb 2016

Study provides vital information about mechanisms governing DNA repair

DNA damage can lead to gene inactivation or deregulation and cause various diseases such as cancer; however, many DNA repair mechanisms allow cells to survive against such damage. A study lead by Antoine Simoneau of the laboratory of Dr. Hugo Wurtele, a researcher in immunology-oncology at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (CIUSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal) and professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, and recently published in the prestigious journal Nucleic Acids Research, provides valuable information about certain mechanisms governing DNA repair.

31 Jan 2016

Sphingosine kinase inhibitor slows castration-resistant prostate cancer cell growth

A first-in-class sphingosine kinase 2 inhibitor slowed the growth of castration-resistant prostate cancer cells, in part by inhibiting the enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase (DEGS), but did not kill them, according to the results of preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies published in the December 2015 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and others.

30 Jan 2016

Certain viral infections during pregnancy could cause behavioral changes in offspring

A study published in the journal Science found that activation in pregnant mice of a particular immune response, similar to what may occur with certain viral infections during pregnancy, alters the brain structure of the mouse offspring and causes behavioral changes, reminiscent of those observed in humans with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

30 Jan 2016

Immune signaling molecule in infected mothers linked to behavioral abnormalities in offspring

In 2010, a large study in Denmark found that women who suffered an infection severe enough to require hospitalization while pregnant were much more likely to have a child with autism (even though the overall risk of delivering a child with autism remained low).

29 Jan 2016

Genetic mutations could help explain cause of cancer in pediatric patients

Combined whole exome tumor and blood sequencing in pediatric cancer patients revealed mutations that could help explain the cause of cancer or have the potential to impact clinical cancer care in 40 percent of patients in a study led by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Cancer Center.

29 Jan 2016

UAB discovery may offer new therapeutic approaches to asthma

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have found a previously unknown step in the pathway that leads to asthma, a discovery that may offer new therapeutic approaches to this incurable disease. Asthma affects more than 25 million people in the United States, including about 7 million children.

27 Jan 2016

Study identifies potential therapeutic targets for treatment of multiple sclerosis

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory diseases may benefit by new findings from a study that identified potential therapeutic targets for a devastating disease striking some 2.3 million people worldwide.

26 Jan 2016

The mechanism behind protective cells protecting themselves

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered the mechanism by which immune cells called regulatory T cells keep themselves intact and functional during their demanding task of holding the immune system in check. Such T cells are key to preventing the immune system from attacking the body in autoimmune disease.

26 Jan 2016

Neurons protect intestinal tissue from over-inflammation

The immune system exercises constant vigilance to protect the body from external threats--including what we eat and drink. A careful balancing act plays out as digested food travels through the intestine. Immune cells must remain alert to protect against harmful pathogens like Salmonella, but their activity also needs to be tempered since an overreaction can lead to too much inflammation and permanent tissue damage.

25 Jan 2016

UAB study shows IL-37 protein suppresses inflammatory response after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injuries cause severe functional disabilities in those who sustain them, including paraplegia or tetraplegia, depending on the scale of the injury. This is due to the degeneration of the spinal pathways that carry nerve signals from the brain to the different parts of the body and vice versa, resulting in loss of mobility and sensitivity underneath the injured area.

22 Jan 2016