Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Aggressive cancer treated successfully in mice

White blood cells from a strain of cancer-resistant mice cured advanced cancers in ordinary laboratory mice, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported.

9 May 2006

Renewed interest in studying influenza A viruses

The emergence of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that is currently devastating chicken flocks in many countries and threatening to unleash a worldwide epidemic among humans has triggered a renewed interest among scientists in studying influenza A viruses, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

9 May 2006

Europe wide study to examine causes of asthma

The GABRIEL project, funded through an EC Framework 6 grant, involves over 150 scientists from 14 European countries and Russia, using the latest research across a variety of disciplines, including genetics, epidemiology and immunology, to identify key factors in the development of asthma bronchiale.

9 May 2006

Effective gene suppression using small interfering RNA in hard-to-transfect human T cells

A technical advance in laboratory techniques may provide biology researchers broader access to RNA interference, a process of blocking the activity of targeted genes. RNA interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease.

9 May 2006

Discovery of new type of cell that generates crucial immune system cells

A new type of cell that generates crucial cells of the immune system has been discovered at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

8 May 2006

Chancroid vaccine may help control HIV in Africa

HIV plagues more than 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization, and efforts to develop a vaccine against the virus have achieved limited success.

8 May 2006

Trial of hepatitis C vaccine underway

Human clinical trials involving investigational vaccines to prevent Hepatitis C are rare. In the fall of 2003 there was a first-ever study at Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development, and an earlier small study at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

8 May 2006

Saint Louis University hunt for a Hepatitis C vaccine

3 May 2006

Scientists discover a master key to microbes' pathogenic lifestyles

For some microbes, the transformation from a benign lifestyle in the soil to that of a potentially deadly human pathogen is just a breath away.

3 May 2006

Study investigates early biology of HIV infection

In July 2005, the race to find a vaccine that would stem the worldwide rate of 13,000 new cases of HIV infection each day moved from competition among research institutions to a strategy of cooperation.

2 May 2006

Method by which Caspase-12 shuts down the body's immune system discovered

Caspase-12 is a molecule with a death-wish. Found only in people of African descent, this protein shuts down our body's immune system, opening the door to potentially lethal infections. In a groundbreaking new study published in the prestigious journal Nature this week, the team that first discovered the role of caspase-12 in humans has now uncovered the mechanism by which it sabotages us, allowing researchers to develop methods to counter its damaging effects.

28 Apr 2006

Combinatorial approach found to reverse the onset of type 1 diabetes

A major finding, which represents an important step toward a potential cure for type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, has been made by a research team at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI). The team, led by Matthias von Herrath, M.D., an internationally recognized expert on the molecular basis of type 1 diabetes, used a combinatorial treatment approach in laboratory mice and found it reversed recent onset type 1 diabetes in the majority of animals tested.

28 Apr 2006

Protein made by cancer virus explains how the virus spreads

New research shows that a protein made by a cancer virus causes infected immune cells to cling to other immune cells, enabling the virus to spread.

26 Apr 2006

Caspase-12 antagonists could potentially be useful in the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory and immune disorders

According to the new study, the presence of caspase-12, which appears to modulate inflammation and innate immunity in humans, increases the body's "vulnerability to bacterial infection and septic shock" while a deficiency confers strong resistance to sepsis. This new discovery suggests that caspase-12 antagonists could be a potentially useful in the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory and immune disorders.

26 Apr 2006

Children of snorers, three times as likely to snore themselves

Children of parents who snore are three times more likely to snore themselves, according to a new study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Furthermore, children who test positive for allergies are twice as likely to snore.

26 Apr 2006

Drug combo might beat type 1 diabetes

Scientists in California have developed a cocktail of drugs which can reverse diabetes and say the discovery is an important step towards a potential cure.

23 Apr 2006

miR 155 overexpression can lead to cancer

Scientists in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center say that just one, single, malfunctioning microRNA is sufficient to cause cancer in mice.

18 Apr 2006

Researchers suggest drug could block metastasis or reduce pain for bone cancer patients

An international research team has identified what may be a critical molecule in the ability of tumours to metastasize -- or spread -- into bone.

13 Apr 2006

New approach to treating hepatitis C virus

Last year Peter Sarnow, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, identified a previously unknown mechanism that the hepatitis C virus uses to replicate, yielding a promising new approach to combating the disease-causing virus.

10 Apr 2006

Evidence of estrogen and progesterone hormone allergy discovered

Some women with menstrual cycle disorders like asthma and migraine headaches may be experiencing allergies to their own estrogen and progesterone hormones, Texas researchers have discovered.

4 Apr 2006