Autoimmunity News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

Researchers track a specialized garbage disposal cell inside lymph nodes for the first time

For almost 140 years, the origin and behavior of an enigmatic cell type inside lymph nodes, called a tingible body macrophage, has remained a mystery.

3 Mar 2023

Mount Sinai researchers reveal mechanisms underlying autoimmunity in Down syndrome

Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have identified which parts of the immune system go awry and contribute to autoimmune diseases in individuals with Down syndrome.

23 Feb 2023

Novel metabolic pathway that makes immunology more efficient revealed

The metabolic pathways that produce a specific type of T cell are distinct from previously assumed, according to findings from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

21 Feb 2023

Tissue inflammation altered by “natural killer” immune cells

The discovery of a previously unknown role of “natural killer” (NK) immune cells by Melbourne researchers has increased the current understanding of how the immune system is controlled to prevent disease.

13 Feb 2023

Cancer therapies improved by changing an antibody’s binding to a target

Before World Cancer Day (4th February), new research from the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton has demonstrated that altering how firmly an antibody attaches to a target can enhance cancer treatments.

2 Feb 2023

New genetic condition that raises vulnerability to opportunistic infections

An international consortium co-led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center immunogeneticist Rubén Martínez-Barricarte, PhD, has discovered a new genetic disorder that causes immunodeficiency and profound susceptibility to opportunistic infections including life-threatening fungal pneumonia.

24 Jan 2023

Pioneering gene editing approach could lead to new treatments for CTLA-4 insufficiency

A fault in cells that form a key part of the immune system can be repaired with a pioneering gene editing technique, finds new research demonstrated in human cells and mice, led by UCL scientists.

From University College London 27 Oct 2022

Bacterial warfare in the gut can have collateral beneficial effects

Nearly ten years ago, a graduate student at UO Jennifer Hampton Hill stumbled upon something fortunate: a peptide produced by gut bacteria that prompted the division of cells that make insulin.

17 Oct 2022

Study insights suggest novel targets for anti-cancer therapies

According to a recent study, cancers can avoid both the immune system and cancer treatments that depend on it, including CAR T cells that have been genetically altered.

12 Sep 2022

Giving attention to beta cells instead of the immune system could be a chance to prevent type 1 diabetes

Research studying the autoimmune response, in which the immune system kills the insulin-producing pancreatic islet beta cells, is a common topic of type 1 diabetes research.

1 Jul 2022

Study describes the importance of the autoimmune response in bacteria

CRISPR has made headlines in recent years for its potential to help patients with conditions as diverse as blindness and sickle cell disease. However, bacteria were already using CRISPR as an immune system to combat viruses long before humans adopted it to combat genetic disorders.

3 Jun 2022

A new rule book for the design of therapeutic cells with improved specificity and safety

Therapies based on engineered immune cells have recently emerged as a promising approach in the treatment of cancer.

18 Apr 2022

Researchers create RNA molecules to address human pancreatic beta cells

Researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have created RNA molecules that bind to human pancreatic beta cells, which generate insulin and are destroyed in type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients.

11 Apr 2022

Proteins surrounding organs and tissues switch off natural killer cells’ “killer” function, study finds

Natural killer (NK) cells, which are part of the body’s innate, or first-line, immune response, interact with tumor cells, viral infections, and solid organ transplants, according to a new study.

21 Mar 2022

Researchers discover how pancreatic cells remodel themselves to reduce the immune response in patients at risk for T1D

Scientists have observed for the very first time that insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are attacked by T lymphocytes during the evolution of Type 1 Diabetes.

2 Mar 2022

Men and women do have immune cell differences, study says

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology have uncovered novel genes associated with the risk of autoimmune disorders in the CD4+ “helper” T cell subset.

2 Mar 2022

Immune cells in arteries can sniff out their surroundings and cause inflammation

An artery is not like a nose. Or is it? Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have discovered that immune cells in arteries can "sniff" out their surroundings and cause inflammation.

17 Jan 2022

Researchers uncover a new signaling pathway essential for T cell viability

They are at the forefront in the fight against viruses, bacteria, and malignant cells: the T cells of our immune system. But the older we get, the fewer of them our body produces.

23 Dec 2021

Study uncovers mechanisms behind rupture and repair of the nuclear envelope

The nucleus present inside the cell is surrounded by the nuclear envelope—two layers of phospholipid membrane that obstructs the nucleus from mixing with other parts of the cell—safeguarding the cell’s DNA from outside damage.

9 Dec 2021

Study identifies key proteins that damage skin cells in psoriasis

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by patches of red, inflamed skin and painful, scaly rashes.

25 Nov 2021