Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered a new bacterium that weakens the immune system in the gut, potentially contributing to certain inflammatory and infectious gut diseases.
The team identified the bacterium, Tomasiella immunophila (T. immunophila), which plays a key role in breaking down a crucial immune component of the gut’s multi-faceted protective immune barrier.
Identifying this bacterium is the first step to developing new treatments for a variety of inflammatory and infectious gut diseases.
Tag: Immune
To Eat or Not to Eat: Targeting autophagy to enhance memory immune responses
Memory B cells depend on autophagy for their survival, but the protein Rubicon is thought to hinder this process. Researchers from Osaka University have discovered a shorter isoform of Rubicon called RUBCN100, which enhances autophagy in B cells.
Newer COVID-19 Subvariants Are Less Vulnerable to Immunity Induced by Vaccination and Previous Infection, Researchers Find
In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, physician-scientists report that the three Omicron subvariants currently dominant in the United States – officially known as subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 – substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection.
Phase separation found in immune response within cells
Protein complexes that play a critical role in launching an immune response assemble in droplets that form within the liquid environment in cells much like oil droplets in water, UT Southwestern scientists report in a new study. The findings, published in Molecular Cell, could lead to new interventions to regulate immunity in individuals with overactive or underactive immune responses.
Cell-analysis technique could combat tuberculosis
Researchers at Cornell have developed a way to analyze how individual immune cells react to the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. It could pave the way for new vaccine strategies and provide insights into fighting other infectious diseases.
Strong immune response underlies acute kidney injury related to COVID-19
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 resembles sepsis-caused kidney injury, and the immune response triggered by the infection plays a pivotal role.
The findings, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, also suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction — a loss of function in cellular energy production — is commonly found in kidney injury related to COVID-19.
Brain Cancer: Hunting What’s Left
Like a mystery detective, Sara G.M. Piccirillo, PhD, is hunting deadly bad actors by studying the crime scene and questioning bystanders one by one. But these bad actors are cells in the brain. She is using two grants to study tumor cells and cells in the surrounding area, one by one.
UAB’s new Immunology Institute provides new avenues for discovery
UAB has established an interdisciplinary hub for research and patient care in the study of immunity.
Drug-Induced Kidney Injury Biomarkers, Epithelial Permeability, and More Featured in March 2021 Toxicological Sciences
The March 2021 issue of Toxicological Sciences includes exciting toxicology research in biotransformation, toxicokinetics, and pharmacokinetics; genetic and epigenetic toxicology; neurotoxicology; and more.
Researchers Discover Mechanism to Overcome Drug-Resistance in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
In a new study led by Yale Cancer Center, researchers have discovered a novel metabolic gatekeeper mechanism for leukemia. This mechanism depends on a molecule called PON2, which could lead to a new treatment for the disease. The findings were published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Gut Microbiome, CRISPR/Cas-9, and More Featured in August 2020 Toxicological Sciences
The August 2020 issue of Toxicological Sciences includes exciting advances in toxicology research. The edition features pieces on biotransformation, toxicokinetics, and pharmacokinetics; developmental and reproductive toxicology; and more.
To Better Understand COVID-19, Researchers Review Aging, Immune Response to Viral Infections
As clinicians learn about a new disease in real-time, researchers are also investigating what lessons from other respiratory infections could apply to COVID-19.
Researchers Receive NIH Funds for Adjuvant Research to Boost Coronavirus Vaccines
Researchers have received funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to screen and evaluate certain molecules known as adjuvants that may improve the ability of coronavirus vaccines to stimulate the immune system and generate appropriate responses necessary to protect the general population against the virus.
Discovering the secrets of the enigmatic caspase-6
Researchers identified the mechanisms underlying the innate immune function of the enzyme caspase-6, offering ways to combat viral infection, inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Natural Toxins in the Global Food Supply Continue to Threaten the Health of Underprivileged Communities
Naturally occurring chemicals in the global food supply are known to pose a burden on worldwide health. New studies have found that a certain foodborne toxin, in addition to its known health effects,, is also linked to vaccine resistance, and for the first time the global burden of disease from foodborne arsenic, lead, cadmium, and methyl mercury has been quantified.. The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) will present new studies as part of its Global Disease Burden Caused by Foodborne Chemicals and Toxins symposium on Monday, Dec. 9 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. as part of its 2019 Annual Meeting at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. This symposium will provide updates to a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) publication which analyzed the disease burdens caused by these toxins.