Immune System News and Research

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Sugar-binding protein could serve as a useful biomarker for patients at risk of sepsis

According to a research team headed by the University of Connecticut Health, a sugar-binding protein could drive terrible inflammation and worsen sepsis—a disease that kills over 270,000 individuals per year in the United States alone.

5 Jan 2021

Gut cells raise alarm during parasite invasion

To effectively combat an infection, the body first has to sense it's been invaded, then the affected tissue must send out signals to corral resources to fight the intruder.

29 Dec 2020

A protein encourages cell stickiness during development

Tohoku University scientists have, for the first time, provided experimental evidence that cell stickiness helps them stay sorted within correct compartments during development.

28 Dec 2020

Scientists discover new class of compounds for combating antimicrobial resistance

Wistar Institute scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that uniquely combine direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These finding were published today in Nature.

24 Dec 2020

Study reveals lower transfer of protective SARS-CoV-2 antibodies via the placenta

Recent analyses indicate that pregnant women and newborns may face elevated risks of developing more severe cases of COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

24 Dec 2020

Highly developed microscopy methods can help detect antigens

Highly complicated processes constantly take place in our body to keep pathogens in check: The T-cells of our immune system are busy searching for antigens - suspicious molecules that fit exactly into certain receptors of the T-cells like a key into a lock. This activates the T-cell and the defense mechanisms of the immune system are set in motion.

22 Dec 2020

Research sheds new light on immune system interactions with cancer

Cancers like melanoma are hard to treat, not least because they have a varied bag of tricks for defeating or evading treatments.

22 Dec 2020

Scientists observe detailed images of spike proteins in coronavirus

Coronaviruses, similar to the one that causes COVID-19 infection, are embedded with protein “spikes” that attach to receptors on their victims’ cells.

21 Dec 2020

Researchers discover protein that may trigger lung scarring

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease associated with inflammation and fibrosis, or scarring, that affects organs including the skin, heart, kidney and lungs.

18 Dec 2020

Scientists find new way to prevent cancer relapse after immunotherapy

Mount Sinai researchers have solved one of the enduring mysteries of cancer immunotherapy: Why does it completely eliminate tumors in many patients, even when not all the cells in those tumors have the molecular target that the therapy is aimed at?

18 Dec 2020

ECSIT protein can shed light on the origin of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have found how a protein governs the behavior of proteins associated with the activity in mitochondria, which is impacted in Alzheimer's disease.

17 Dec 2020

Researchers detect new immune cells that act as major driver of breast cancer growth

Several breast cancer immunotherapies have had only minimal success in treating the aggressive forms of this disease.

17 Dec 2020

Researchers identify suitable biocatalyst for designing COVID-19 vaccine

The chemical substance class of nucleosides is attracting a great deal of interest, and this can be attributed to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.

17 Dec 2020

Study: DOT1L enzyme is essential for humoral immune responses

Communication, serendipity and an enzyme called DOT1L have all combined to produce some exciting findings into the immune system's B cells and T cells by two groups of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) scientists.

17 Dec 2020

Researchers discover genetic variants of host proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Like all viruses, the novel coronavirus is dependent on help from the human host cell. Proteins are the functional units of the cell and enable the virus to enter the host cell or help the virus to replicate.

17 Dec 2020

Tumor's stiff-arm tactic restricts the effectiveness of checkpoint inhibitors

In a paper just published in the Journal for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (doi:10.1136/jitc-2020-001712), Dr. Herbert, Head of Discovery at InsideOutBio, asks whether cancer cells stiff-arm immune cells just like rugby players push off defenders from the other team.

16 Dec 2020

Microglia surveillance helps prevent seizure activity in the brain

An important part of the brain's immune system, cells called microglia constantly extend and retract "branches" from their cell body to survey their environment.

15 Dec 2020

Study shows tRNA fragments play a key role in ischemic stroke

An ischemic stroke occurs when the homeostasis of the body and brain is highly disrupted. The immune system, among other things, activates an inflammatory response that can either overshoot or change into an immune deficiency.

14 Dec 2020

Newly identified diagnostic marker can help overcome treatment resistance in cervical cancer

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles have discovered a promising diagnostic marker that may help predict the response of cervical cancer patients to standard radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

14 Dec 2020

New genetic associations predict susceptibility to Takayasu arteritis

A team of international collaborators, headed by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, have detected novel genetic associations that can estimate the susceptibility of individuals to Takayasu arteritis—a rare inflammatory disease.

14 Dec 2020