Immunology News and Research

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Immunology is the study of the body's immune system.

Importance of epigenetic regulation in the recovery of T cells

In stem cell transplants for leukemia treatment, the patient’s hematopoietic system is removed and replaced with hematopoietic cells from donors.

10 Feb 2023

A protein in the lung forms a natural protective barrier against SARS-CoV-2 infection

University of Sydney scientists have discovered a protein in the lung that blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body.

10 Feb 2023

Novel compound curtails influenza virus replication

Viruses use the molecular repertoire of the host cell to replicate. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn, together with Japanese researchers, want to exploit this for the treatment of influenza.

10 Feb 2023

Protein that facilitates cancer-causing viruses dodge the immune system

Numerous cancers have been related to the viruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). For the first time, UNC School of Medicine researchers have shown that these viruses elude the innate immune response by using a human protein called barrier-to-autointegration factor 1, or BAF, which enables the viruses to propagate and cause disease.

7 Feb 2023

Newly discovered gene signature accurately predicts the functioning of P53 variants

In a paper published in PNAS, Maureen Murphy, Ph.D., Deputy Director of Wistar's Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center and Ira Brind Professor and Program Leader in the Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program, and team have identified a gene signature that accurately predicts the functioning of P53 variants, important information to assessing cancer risk and optimizing choices for cancer therapeutics.

7 Feb 2023

Scientists discover how a high fat diet expels gut parasitic worm

Scientists have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system to eliminate a parasitic worm which is a major cause of death and illness in the developing world.

7 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

Clinically approved fungal vaccine protects against fungal infections

A new vaccine developed by the University of Georgia might be the first clinically approved immunization to safeguard against invasive fungal infections, which are becoming more common as antifungal drug resistance grows.

From University of Georgia 1 Feb 2023

UNC research describes another layer to the challenge of HIV latency

When people living with HIV take antiviral therapy (ART), their viral loads are driven so low that a standard blood test cannot detect the virus.

1 Feb 2023

Research supports the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy

Research findings published in Frontiers in Immunology show that cancer immunotherapy does not interfere with COVID-19 immunity in previously vaccinated patients.

1 Feb 2023

Exploring how smoking cannabis alters the oral microbiome and its impact on the brain

Inspiration strikes when you least expect it. For Wei Jiang, M.D., a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), inspiration came in 2018 on a smoke-filled boat tour around Amsterdam during an international conference.

30 Jan 2023

Experts urge to recognize the need for more rational discourse around the future of virology

The study of viruses is under renewed scrutiny, say more than 150 experts in a new commentary published today in mSphere, mBio and the Journal of Virology, journals of the American Society for Microbiology.

27 Jan 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

Tumor progression after immunotherapy: Molecular pathways revealed

The University of Michigan’s Rogel Cancer Center researchers discovered a mechanism that explains why a subset of patients’ tumors grows rather than shrink when treated with immunotherapy.

20 Jan 2023

New scalable approach for the diagnosis of multiple respiratory viruses

Cambridge scientists have created a novel test that “fishes” for many respiratory viruses at once using single strands of DNA as “bait” and provides extremely accurate results in under an hour.

18 Jan 2023

Novel blood biomarker predicts a favorable response to CART cell therapy

A MedUni Vienna research group identified a particularly potent biomarker for clinical response to CAR-T cell therapy, establishing the conditions for the most effective use of this innovative therapy for lymphoma treatment.

11 Jan 2023

Key immune alarm protein that regulates inflammation identified

Trinity researchers have made a significant advance in understanding how inflammation is controlled. They recently discovered that a crucial immunological alarm protein that was previously thought to quiet the immune response apparently performs the opposite.

20 Dec 2022

Improving cancer immunotherapies with bioengineered synthetic gene circuits

In two distinct studies, scientists show how synthetic biology can be used to address a challenging problem in cancer immunotherapy: the way immunotherapy-related approaches focused on the short-term killing of tumor cells could fail to eradicate tumors because tumor growth occurs on longer timescales.

19 Dec 2022

Figuring out how immune cells prevent cognitive decline

Could Alzheimer’s disease and other types of cognitive decline be caused by the underproduction of immune cells that are poorly understood? It might, according to a Rutgers study published in Nature Immunology, and increasing these cells could undo the harm.

From Rutgers University 1 Dec 2022

Applying “programmable molecular scissors” to combat COVID-19 infection

As an approach that could be used to create a new class of antiviral drugs, synthetic biology was used by Cambridge scientists to artificially create enzymes programmed to attack the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 and eliminate the virus.

17 Nov 2022