Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Study may help explain plague's rapid evolution and aid in development of therapeutics

In the evolutionary blink of an eye, a bacterium that causes mild stomach irritation evolved into a deadly assassin responsible for the most devastating pandemics in human history. How did the mild-mannered Yersinia pseudotuberculosis become Yersinia pestis, more commonly known as the Plague?

30 Aug 2011

FDA advisory committee postpones Panel review of Gen-Probe's PROGENSA PCA3 Assay

DiagnoCure, Inc., a life sciences company that develops and commercializes high‐value cancer diagnostic tests, announced today that Gen-Probe Incorporated, its commercial partner for the PCA3 test, received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the PROGENSA PCA3 Assay will not be reviewed by the Immunology Panel of FDA's Medical Devices Advisory Committee on October 14, 2011 as previously scheduled, but will be reviewed by the Panel at a later date.

30 Aug 2011

New chemical compounds show promise against set of protein-folding diseases

Collaborating researchers at Stanford University and The Scripps Research Institute have identified chemical compounds that show promise as potential therapeutics for a set of medical conditions caused by the abnormal clumping together of a protein known as transthyretin.

30 Aug 2011

Vitamin A supplements in children could save up to 600,000 lives a year: Study

Researchers have found that giving vitamin A supplements to children under the age of five in developing countries could save up to 600,000 lives a year. Writing in the British Medical Journal, UK and Pakistani experts assessed 43 studies involving 200,000 children, and found deaths were cut by 24% if children were given the vitamin. They add that it would also cut rates of measles and diarrhea.

30 Aug 2011

Student researchers throughout Australia compete for annual award

Student researchers from throughout Australia will compete for state and national titles in the country’s leading competition for life science, biotechnology and bio-engineering students: the 2011 AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards. Applications are now open for the 2011 awards.

29 Aug 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates two afatinib phase II studies in HER2-positive breast cancer

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the initiation of two phase II studies, 1200.89 and LUX-Breast 2, evaluating afatinib in patients with metastatic breast cancer, who have an overexpression of the erbB2 (HER2) protein, so called HER2-positive patients. Afatinib is an irreversible ErbB Family Blocker, which binds to all erbB-family kinases including erbB2.

29 Aug 2011

CD8 alpha+ dendritic cells can help the body beat back infection

The same trait that makes a rare immune cell invaluable in fighting some infections also can be exploited by other diseases to cause harm, two new studies show.

29 Aug 2011

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Gene therapy can offer a cure for a rare condition that causes children’s immune systems to fail. In this rare condition, known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), inherited genetic mutations mean that babies are unable to fight off infection, severely limiting their chances of surviving more than a few years. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare genetic disorder estimated to affect between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 live births

26 Aug 2011

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

A U.S. research team has discovered a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), which they found was responsible for allowing Ebola virus to enter and replicate within cells.

26 Aug 2011

Autism link to vaccines dispelled by a large review of studies

According to a report issued by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM), vaccines are largely safe, and do not cause autism or diabetes. This conclusion followed a review of more than 1,000 published research studies.

26 Aug 2011

IOM report: Few health problems are clearly associated with vaccines

An analysis of more than 1,000 research articles concluded that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.

26 Aug 2011

RE Children's Project donates $111,000 to UCLA researchers for Rasmussen Encephalitis study

The Rasmussen Encephalitis (RE) Children's Project, a foundation that supports scientific research to find a cure for this devastating neurological disease, has donated $111,000 to researchers in the departments of neurosurgery and pathology/lab medicine (neuropathology) at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

26 Aug 2011

Malaria mosquito has disappeared from villages without organized control measures

The incidence of malaria in many African countries south of the Sahara is falling rapidly. A Danish-Tanzanian research group has discovered that the mosquito carrying the malaria parasite has practically disappeared from villages without organized mosquito control, and the researchers do not know why.

26 Aug 2011

U.S. DoD awards $1.1M grant to Cleveland Clinic researcher for lupus research

The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded a $1.1 million grant to a Cleveland Clinic researcher to investigate why females are disproportionately affected by lupus.

26 Aug 2011

Nasal spray with hot chili pepper ingredient may help people clear up sinus inflammation

Hot chili peppers are known to make people "tear up," but a new study led by University of Cincinnati allergy researcher Jonathan Bernstein, MD, found that a nasal spray containing an ingredient derived from hot chili peppers (Capsicum annum) may help people "clear up" certain types of sinus inflammation.

26 Aug 2011

Researchers develop single vaccines to prevent rabies, Ebola infection

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University, among other institutions, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have developed single vaccines to protect against both rabies and the Ebola virus.

26 Aug 2011

Emergent announces results of adjuvanted BioThrax anthrax vaccine Phase 1a trial

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that results from a Phase 1a clinical trial evaluating an investigational anthrax vaccine, Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed with CPG 7909 Adjuvant mixed at bedside, have been published in Vaccine, a leading medical journal on vaccines and immunology.

26 Aug 2011

Redesigned vancomycin can kill deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have successfully reengineered an important antibiotic to kill the deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify cellular protein that plays a critical role in Ebola virus infection

Research published by two teams of Army scientists and collaborators has identified a cellular protein that plays a critical role in Ebola virus infection.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

Researchers have used next generation sequencing to trace the source and explain the spread of the latest (seventh) cholera pandemic. They have also highlighted the impact of the acquisition of resistance to antibiotics on shaping outbreaks and show resistance was first acquired around 1982.

25 Aug 2011

Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Study may help explain plague's rapid evolution and aid in development of therapeutics

FDA advisory committee postpones Panel review of Gen-Probe's PROGENSA PCA3 Assay

New chemical compounds show promise against set of protein-folding diseases

Vitamin A supplements in children could save up to 600,000 lives a year: Study

Student researchers throughout Australia compete for annual award

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates two afatinib phase II studies in HER2-positive breast cancer

CD8 alpha+ dendritic cells can help the body beat back infection

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

Autism link to vaccines dispelled by a large review of studies

IOM report: Few health problems are clearly associated with vaccines

RE Children's Project donates $111,000 to UCLA researchers for Rasmussen Encephalitis study

Malaria mosquito has disappeared from villages without organized control measures

U.S. DoD awards $1.1M grant to Cleveland Clinic researcher for lupus research

Nasal spray with hot chili pepper ingredient may help people clear up sinus inflammation

Researchers develop single vaccines to prevent rabies, Ebola infection

Emergent announces results of adjuvanted BioThrax anthrax vaccine Phase 1a trial

Redesigned vancomycin can kill deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientists identify cellular protein that plays a critical role in Ebola virus infection

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

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