Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

New approach to treating autoimmune disease offered by Weizmann scientists

In autoimmune diseases, the immune system turns against the body's own tissues and organs, wreaking havoc and destruction for no apparent reason. Partly because the origins of these diseases are so obscure, no effective treatment exists, and the suffering they inflict is enormous.

2 Jun 2008

Researchers find gene signature profile for metastasis

A common signature of tiny, specific pieces of non-coding genetic material known as microRNAs (miRNAs) may be directly involved in the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

2 Jun 2008

Why some treatments rescue aging skin

Fine wrinkles, deeper creases, saggy areas around the mouth and neck - the sights in the mirror that make baby boomers wince - are not inevitable. They result from a structural breakdown inside the skin that some existing treatments effectively counteract by stimulating the growth of new, youthful collagen, University of Michigan scientists say.

28 May 2008

Allergy - it's in the genes

In a world first scientists at theWestmead Millennium Institute have identified how a gene associated with allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema works, providing new hope for potential drug treatments.

28 May 2008

New cancer vaccine protein target found

Cancer Research UK scientists have identified an important new protein target which could be used to produce highly focused vaccine therapies for cancer - according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

25 May 2008

Yerkes researchers develop first transgenic nonhuman primate model of Huntington's disease

In the first study of its kind, researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Human Genetics at Emory's School of Medicine, have developed the first transgenic nonhuman primate model of Huntington's disease (HD), one of the most devastating human neurodegenerative diseases.

22 May 2008

New program promises to solve puzzling medical cases

A new research program in the U.S. promises to provide some answers for people suffering from mysterious diseases that have defied diagnosis.

21 May 2008

Having a cat may protect children from developing asthma

A study released by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, shows that cat ownership may have a protective effect against the development of asthma symptoms in young children at age five.

20 May 2008

Scripps Research Institute awarded patent for revolutionary technology

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded U.S. Patent No. US 7,375,234 B2, which covers a broad class of chemical reactions that mimic biological efficiency and opens the door to a new world of chemistry.

20 May 2008

VCU research team awarded NIH grant to study asthma, allergic disease

A team of Virginia Commonwealth University researchers has received a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant totaling nearly $7.3 million for a Cooperative Research Center to study various aspects of asthma and allergic disease.

20 May 2008

NIAID to advance B-cell approach to HIV vaccines

To advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching a new program to foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV.

20 May 2008

Abnormal "editing" of gene messages may cause Lupus

Researchers at Wake Forest University have uncovered evidence that the abnormal "editing" of gene messages in a type of white blood cell may be behind the development of lupus. Scientists hope the finding will lead to earlier diagnosis, a way to monitor patients' response to therapy and possibly a new way to treat the disease.

19 May 2008

Investigational smallpox drug may treat adenovirus infections in humans

Scientists at Saint Louis University have made two key discoveries that could lead to the first-ever human testing of a drug to target the adenovirus, which causes a number of severe upper-respiratory infections and is one of many viruses that causes the common cold.

19 May 2008

NIH launches undiagnosed diseases program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new clinical research program that will aim to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.

19 May 2008

Rochester vaccine triggers immune response, prevents Alzheimer's

A vaccine created by University of Rochester Medical Center scientists prevents the development of Alzheimer's disease-like pathology in mice without causing inflammation or significant side effects.

19 May 2008

DNA vaccines boosted by dendritic cells

The concept sounds ideal: vaccines made of DNA that could be taken in by other cells and give instructions for how to fight off different diseases. The reality, however, has fallen short. Although DNA vaccines have been around for about 15 years and shown lots of promise for HIV, SARS and influenza vaccines during preclinical testing in mice, researchers have yet to make them potent enough to be helpful in humans.

18 May 2008

Australian scientists use gene technology to improve IVF treatment

Research by a team of Australian scientists promises to improve the fertility treatment in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

15 May 2008

Study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity

A St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows that T cells, the body's master immune regulators, do not use simple on/off switches to govern the cellular machinery that regulates their development and function. Rather, they possess sophisticated molecular controls that enable them to adjust their function with exquisite precision. Such subtle adjustment enables T cells to modulate their development and function, including avoiding autoimmunity

12 May 2008

Researchers step closer to finding ways to treat type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

9 May 2008

Role of genetic components of dendritic cells could lead to more effective drugs

For the first time, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat allergic disorders and asthma, according to a study reported in the May edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

7 May 2008