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Evolution in the antibody factory
Immune system B cells play a crucial role in the defence of pathogens; when they detect such an intruder, they produce antibodies that help to combat the enemy. They concurrently and continuously improve these molecules to more precisely recognize the pathogens.
Immunology
Source: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Posted on: Monday, Mar 11, 2013, 2:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1659 | Comments: 0
Study points to essential role of IL-22 in lung repair after the flu
Once the initial episode of influenza has passed, the chronic effects tend to be overlooked. The results of a new study indicate that the cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22) plays a critical role in normal lung repair following influenza infection. This study is published in the April 2013 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.
Immunology
Source: Elsevier Health Sciences
Posted on: Monday, Mar 11, 2013, 1:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1480 | Comments: 0
Some brain cells are better virus fighters
Viruses often spread through the brain in patchwork patterns, infecting some cells but missing others. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helps explain why. The scientists showed that natural immune defenses that resist viral infection are turned on in some brain cells but switched off in others.
Immunology
Source: Washington University School of Medicine
Posted on: Friday, Mar 08, 2013, 12:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1473 | Comments: 0
Salt identified as autoimmune trigger
For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery — dietary salt.
Immunology
Source: Yale University
Posted on: Thursday, Mar 07, 2013, 12:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1823 | Comments: 0
Life saving treatment for fire ant allergy under used
Two million Americans are allergic to insect stings, an allergy which sends more than 500,000 people to the emergency room annually. Yet, according to a study published today in the March issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAA), while fire ant allergy su
Health
Source: American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
Posted on: Tuesday, Mar 05, 2013, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1904 | Comments: 0
Scientists discover molecule that does double duty in stopping asthma attacks
Scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital are on the brink of the next treatment advancement that may spell relief for the nearly nineteen million adults and seven million children in the United States suffering from asthma. The scientists discovered two new drug targets in the inflammatory response pathway responsible for asthma attacks.
Immunology
Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital
Posted on: Thursday, Feb 28, 2013, 12:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1458 | Comments: 0
Video: Researchers develop protein 'passport' that help nanoparticles get past immune system
The body's immune system exists to identify and destroy foreign objects, whether they are bacteria, viruses, flecks of dirt or splinters. Unfortunately, nanoparticles designed to deliver drugs, and implanted devices like pacemakers or artificial joints, are just as foreign and subject to the same response.
Immunology
Source: University of Pennsylvania
Posted on: Friday, Feb 22, 2013, 1:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1696 | Comments: 0
Atherosclerosis -- Monocyte migrations
Atherosclerosis is one of the commonest causes of death in modern societies. The condition is characterized by the build-up of fatty deposits called atherosclerotic plaques on the inner surfaces of arteries, which restrict, and may eventually cut off, blood flow. The deposits can also be dislodged from their site of origin and may then block major vessels in the heart or the brain, leading to life
Immunology
Source: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit�t M�nchen
Posted on: Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013, 10:45am
Rating: | Views: 1651 | Comments: 0
Scientists find calcium is the initial trigger in our immune response to healing
For the first time scientists studying the cellular processes underlying the body's response to healing have revealed how a flash of calcium is the very first step in repairing damaged tissue. The findings, published in Current Biology, could lead to new therapies that speed up the healing process following injury or surgery.
Immunology
Source: University of Bristol
Posted on: Friday, Feb 15, 2013, 11:15am
Rating: | Views: 1574 | Comments: 0
Newly identified natural protein blocks HIV, other deadly viruses
A team of UCLA-led researchers has identified a protein with broad virus-fighting properties that potentially could be used as a weapon against deadly human pathogenic viruses such as HIV, Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and others designated "priority pathogens" for national biosecurity purposes by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Immunology
Source: University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Posted on: Tuesday, Feb 12, 2013, 2:30pm
Rating: | Views: 1383 | Comments: 0
New strategy prevents rheumatoid arthritis in mice
Farber Cancer Institute scientists have demonstrated a new strategy for treating autoimmune disease that successfully blocked the development of rheumatoid arthritis in a mouse model. They say it holds promise for improved treatment of arthritis and other autoimmune disorders in people.
Immunology
Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Posted on: Monday, Feb 11, 2013, 10:15am
Rating: | Views: 1388 | Comments: 0
Immune systems of healthy adults 'remember' germs to which they've never been exposed
It's established dogma that the immune system develops a "memory" of a microbial pathogen, with a correspondingly enhanced readiness to combat that microbe, only upon exposure to it — or to its components though a vaccine. But a discovery by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers casts doubt on that dogma.
Immunology
Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Posted on: Friday, Feb 08, 2013, 11:45am
Rating: | Views: 1493 | Comments: 0
Researchers pioneer treatment for viral infection common in children
Researchers at Imperial College London have discovered a new way in which a very common childhood disease could be treated. In the first year of life, 65 per cent of babies get infected by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). This causes bronchiolitis, and is thought to kill nearly 200,000 children every year worldwide.
Immunology
Source: Imperial College London
Posted on: Tuesday, Feb 05, 2013, 1:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1459 | Comments: 0
Immune cell suicide alarm helps destroy escaping bacteria
Cells in the immune system called macrophages normally engulf and kill intruding bacteria, holding them inside a membrane-bound bag called a vacuole, where they kill and digest them.
Immunology
Source: University of North Carolina Health Care
Posted on: Friday, Jan 25, 2013, 4:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1451 | Comments: 0
Cells 'flock' to heal wounds
Like flocks of birds, cells coordinate their motions as they race to cover and ultimately heal wounds to the skin. How that happens is a little less of a mystery today.
Immunology
Source: Rice University
Posted on: Friday, Jan 25, 2013, 12:30pm
Rating: | Views: 1388 | Comments: 0
Immune system molecule with hidden talents
Dendritic cells, or DCs for short, perform a vital role for the immune system: They engulf pathogens, break them down into their component parts, and then display the pieces on their surface.
Immunology
Source: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Posted on: Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013, 2:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1308 | Comments: 0
Molecular switch enabling immune cells to better fight disease
A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells. The finding, made in collaboration with researchers from the RIKEN Institute in
Immunology
Source: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Posted on: Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013, 12:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1288 | Comments: 0
Genes and their regulatory 'tags' conspire to promote rheumatoid arthritis
In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an immune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million American adults. By teasing apart the tagging events that result from RA from those that help cause
Immunology
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Posted on: Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013, 11:15am
Rating: | Views: 1283 | Comments: 0
Immunology research sheds new light on cell function, response
A Kansas State University-led study has uncovered new information that helps scientists better understand the complex workings of cells in the innate immune system. The findings may also lead to new avenues in disease control and prevention.
Immunology
Source: Kansas State University
Posted on: Thursday, Jan 17, 2013, 1:30pm
Rating: | Views: 1442 | Comments: 0
Multiple sclerosis study reveals how killer T cells learn to recognize nerve fiber insulators
Misguided killer T cells may be the missing link in sustained tissue damage in the brains and spines of people with multiple sclerosis, findings from the University of Washington reveal. Cytoxic T cells, also known as CD8+ T cells, are white blood cells that normally are in the body's arsenal to fight disease.
Immunology
Source: University of Washington
Posted on: Monday, Jan 14, 2013, 10:00am
Rating: | Views: 1886 | Comments: 0
Sublingual immunotherapy shows promise as treatment for peanut allergy
Peanuts are one of the most common triggers of severe food-induced allergic reactions, which can be fatal, and the prevalence of peanut allergy is increasing. However, there is currently no clinical treatment available for peanut allergy other than strict dietary elimination and, in cases of accidental ingestion, injections of epinephrine.
Immunology
Source: University of North Carolina Health Care
Posted on: Tuesday, Jan 08, 2013, 11:15am
Rating: | Views: 1330 | Comments: 0
Cancer-specific killer T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells
Researchers from the RIKEN Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology in Japan report today that they have succeeded for the first time in creating cancer-specific, immune system cells called killer T lymphocytes, from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). To create these killer cells, the team first had to reprogram T lymphocytes specialized in killing a certain type of cancer, into iPS cel
Stem cells
Source: RIKEN
Posted on: Friday, Jan 04, 2013, 10:30am
Rating: | Views: 1386 | Comments: 0
Staphylococcus aureus: Why it just gets up your nose!
A collaboration between researchers at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and the Department of Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin has identified a mechanism by which the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) colonizes our nasal passages. The study, published today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, shows for the first time that a protein located on th
Microbiology
Source: Public Library of Science
Posted on: Thursday, Jan 03, 2013, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1467 | Comments: 0
Successful results against human leishmaniasis with a more efficient and economic vaccine
A research coordinated by the UAB has succeeded in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis. The vaccine was tested with the best animal model existing, the golden hamster, and can be produced at low costs by using insect larvae. The research, published in the latest edition of PLoS ONE, is an important step towards the fight against a disease which causes the death of 70,000 people each yea
Immunology
Source: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Posted on: Thursday, Dec 20, 2012, 10:00am
Rating: | Views: 1413 | Comments: 0
Way to make one-way flu vaccine discovered by Georgia State researcher
A new process to make a one-time, universal influenza vaccine has been discovered by a researcher at Georgia State University's Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection and his partners.
Immunology
Source: Georgia State University
Posted on: Wednesday, Dec 19, 2012, 8:30am
Rating: | Views: 1259 | Comments: 0
Researchers find age not factor in immunity to viruses
Our immune system does not shut down with age, says a new study led by McMaster University researchers.
Immunology
Source: McMaster University
Posted on: Friday, Dec 14, 2012, 4:30pm
Rating: | Views: 2152 | Comments: 0
Intestinal immune cells play an unexpected role in immune surveillance of the bloodstream
A type of immune cell found in the small intestine plays a previously unsuspected role in monitoring antigens circulating in the bloodstream. The findings from a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers clarify how dendritic cells in the intestinal lining collect antigens from both intestinal contents and the circulation, leading to the generation of T cells that suppress inflamma
Immunology
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Posted on: Friday, Dec 14, 2012, 11:15am
Rating: | Views: 1272 | Comments: 0
Super-resolution microscope shows how human T-cells make life or death decisions
Sydney, Australia - Using a super-resolution fluorescent microscope, Australian medical scientists are a step closer to understanding why and how human immune cells decide to activate or not, thus enabling or preventing disease taking hold in the body.
Immunology
Source: University of New South Wales
Posted on: Wednesday, Dec 05, 2012, 10:30am
Rating: | Views: 1385 | Comments: 0
Researchers discover how C. diff red lines immune response
Researchers in the Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute have discovered how a common diarrhea-causing bacterium sends the body's natural defenses into overdrive, actually intensifying illness while fighting infection.
Microbiology
Source: Virginia Tech
Posted on: Monday, Dec 03, 2012, 11:00am
Rating: | Views: 1250 | Comments: 0
Traffic cops of the immune system
Now, scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have looked into the origin of Tregs and uncovered a central role played by the protein IkBNS. Armed with this knowledge, the researchers hope to manipulate Tregs in order to either inhibit or activate the immune system. Biochemist Prof. Ingo Schmitz and his team have now published their findings in the scientific journal Immunit
Immunology
Source: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Posted on: Friday, Nov 30, 2012, 12:30pm
Rating: | Views: 2315 | Comments: 0
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