618 Articles with the topic: Immunology


Protein Could Provoke Immune Attack On Several Cell Types
sea-maid submitted, created time 10 months 1 week (www.sciencedaily.com)
Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own material just as aggressively as it would attack a foreign pathogen. Multiple sclerosis, MS for short, is just one such autoimmune disease, and is one of the most common neurological diseases in the 20 to 30 years age group. The disease can have very severe consequences for those afflicted, since the body’s defenses attack the central nervous system. 


On the Origin of The Immune System
sea-maid submitted, created time 10 months 2 weeks (www.sciencemag.org)
Did the immune system evolve to keep out harmful organisms, or is it like a bouncer at a nightclub, trained to allow the right microbes in and kick the less desirable ones out? In the fifth essay in Science's series in honor of the Year of Darwin, John Travis explores the evolution of the immune system. 


Louse infestation calibrates immune system regulation
piggy submitted, created time 10 months 3 weeks (www.eurekalert.org)
Some parasites can exert a moderating effect on the immune system, possibly reducing the host's risk of developing immune dysfunctions like asthma, allergies and some forms of arthritis. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology studied the effects of several parasites on the immune activity of wild wood mice, finding louse infestations to be associated with a reduced readiness to mount an immune response.
Janette Bradley led a team of researchers from the University of Nottingham who carried out the tests on a population of wood mice captured in a Nottinghamshire forest 


Designer immune cells fight prostate cancer
sea-maid submitted, created time 10 months 3 weeks (www.nature.com)
Genetically engineered immune cells may have helped two patients with advanced prostate cancer fight the disease, preliminary results suggest. 


HIV Pays a Price for Invisibility
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 2 days (www.sciencedaily.com)
Mutations that help HIV hide from the immune system undermine the virus's ability to replicate, show an international team of researchers in the April 13 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The study was published online on March 23.
Some people have a type of human leukocyte antigen called HLA-B*5703, which is linked to T-cells that are quicker and more effective against HIV. However, the virus can quickly mutate three amino acids, rendering infected cells invisible to the body's immune system 


Immune Cells in Skin Fight Off Infection Better Than the Rest
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 1 week (www.sciencedaily.com)
Scientists at the University of Melbourne have published results detailing the local action of immune cells in the skin, which could improve treatment of viral skin infections. 


New Role for Lung Epithelial Cells in Sensing Allergens in Air
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 2 weeks (www.sciencedaily.com)
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, have identified a new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens. 


By Shutting Down Inflammation, Agent Reverses Damage from Spinal Cord Injury in Preclinical Studies
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 2 weeks (www.sciencedaily.com)
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have been able to speed recovery and substantially reduce damage resulting from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies. 


Gene linked to lupus might explain gender difference in disease risk
piggy submitted, created time 11 months 2 weeks (www.eurekalert.org)
In an international human genetic study, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a gene linked to the autoimmune disease lupus, and its location on the X chromosome might help explain why females are ten times more susceptible to the disease than males.
Identifying this gene, IRAK1, as a disease gene may also have therapeutic implications, said Dr. Chandra Mohan, professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. "Our work also shows that blocking IRAK1 action shuts down lupus in an animal model 


No Hiding Place for Infective Bacteria
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 3 weeks (www.sciencedaily.com)
Scientists in Colorado have discovered a new approach to prevent bacterial infections from taking hold. Writing in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, Dr. Quinn Parks and colleagues describe how they used enzymes against products of the body's own defense cells to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from building a protective biofilm which enables them to avoid both the body's immune mechanisms and antibiotics. 


Scientists grow diabetes drug in tobacco plants
sea-maid submitted, created time 11 months 3 weeks (www.reuters.com)
Scientists have found a healthy use for tobacco after breeding genetically modified plants containing interleukin 10, which could interfere with the progression of type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune conditions.
The process of growing medicines through genetically modified plants, called molecular farming, is projected to be cheaper than traditional factory methods. The article also quotes University of Verona scientist Mario Pezzotti as saying that they may also be cheaper than cell cultures--the current standard for antibody medicines 


New Method Could Improve Vaccines for Both Seasonal and Bird Flu
piggy submitted, created time 1 year 1 day (www.sciencedaily.com)
A new computerized testing method could help world health officials better identify those flu vaccines that are most effective against multiple strains of influenza. Rice University scientists who created the method say tests using data from bird flu and seasonal flu outbreaks suggest their method can better gauge the efficacy of proposed vaccines than tests used today can.
Rice's Michael Deem, the lead scientist on the project, will present the group's results March 19 at the American Physical Society's 2009 meeting in Pittsburgh 


New Role for Immune System Pathway in Post-heart-attack Inflammation
piggy submitted, created time 1 year 2 days (www.sciencedaily.com)
A new study led by University of Iowa researchers has found an unexpected new link between this inflammation in heart muscle following heart attacks and a previously known enzyme called calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II or CaM kinase II. The findings also reveal the involvement of an immune system gene--complement factor B--that has been implicated in other inflammatory diseases.
The study, published online March 9 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggests that CaM kinase II inhibition could be a therapeutic target in heart disease, but by previously unknown pathways. 


Virus said to trigger childhood-onset diabetes
sea-maid submitted, created time 1 year 1 week (news.bbc.co.uk)
U.K. researchers report that enteroviruses may be triggers for type I diabetes, particularly in children. In a study of diabetic children, pancreatic tissue from 60% of the subjects was shown to be infected with enterovirus. Hardly any non-diabetic children showed any enterovirus at all. In adults this figure was closer to 40%.
Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body kills off its own beta cells (this is as opposed to type II diabetes, in which the body's insulin receptors are damaged or less sensitive) 


HIV Adapts to Escape Immune Response
piggy submitted, created time 1 year 2 weeks (main.uab.edu)
A new study out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Oxford University in England describes the human immunodeficiency virus's ability to adapt and avoid the human immune system. It spells out at least fourteen different changes, called escape mutations, that help keep itself alive after interacting genetically with the immunity molecules that would normally attack it.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) adapts so well to the body's defense system that any successful AIDS vaccine must keep pace with the ever-changing immunological profile of the virus 