Our immune system is remarkably powerful. It quickly assembles teams of cells to eliminate threats inside our bodies.
Tag: immune cells
The immune system’s moonlighters
Our immune system is remarkably powerful. It quickly assembles teams of cells to eliminate threats inside our bodies.
Scientists engineer potent immune cells for ‘off-the-shelf’ cancer immunotherapy
UCLA scientists have developed a new method to engineer more powerful immune cells that can potentially be used for “off-the-shelf” cell therapy to treat challenging cancers.
Some Benefits of Exercise Stem from the Immune System
Research in mice shows that the anti-inflammatory properties of exercise may arise from immune cells mobilized to counter exercise-induced inflammation. Immune cells prevent muscle damage by lowering levels of interferon, a key driver of chronic inflammation, inflammatory diseases, and aging.
Intestinal bacteria metabolite promotes capture of antigens by dendritic cells
Dendritic cells play a key role in the mammalian immune system. These cells are present throughout the human body and are known to capture foreign bodies, i.e., antigens, using extendable “arms” called dendrites
Army of specialized T cells may trigger asthma attacks in older men
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists from La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and The University of Southampton, UK, have uncovered a group of immune cells that may drive severe asthma. These cells, called cytotoxic CD4+ tissue-resident memory T cells, gather in the lungs and appear to possess the molecular weaponry to cause the most harm in men who developed asthma later in life.
Tracing maternal behavior to brain immune function
Immune system changes in the pregnant body that protect the fetus appear to extend to the brain, where a decrease in immune cells late in gestation may factor into the onset of maternal behavior, new research in rats suggests.
Immune and tumor cell “tug-of-war” controls anti-cancer activity
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found that altering amounts of the nutrient glutamine in the tumor microenvironment could enhance or impair the immune system’s anti-cancer response.
Single cell RNA sequencing reveals heterogenous immune landscape of tumor infiltrated immune cell population against glioblastoma
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive glioma. Recently, immunotherapy using immune-checkpoint blockage (ICB) has provided therapeutic efficacy to various tumors. Despite an attractive ICB therapy, there have not been beneficial outcomes about GBM patients due to the characteristic of immunosuppressive…
Exercise increases the number of cancer-destroying immune cells in cancer patients
Two new Finnish studies show that short bouts of light or moderate exercise can increase the number of immune cells in the bloodstream of cancer patients.
Fresh understanding of ageing in the brain offers hope for treating neurological diseases
Scientists from the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) have shed new light on ageing processes in the brain. By linking the increased presence of specialised immune cells to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury for the first time, they have unearthed a possible new target for therapies aimed at treating age-related neurological diseases.
Commonly used antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV and hepatitis B reduce immune cells’ energy production
New UCLA-led research suggests that antiretroviral drugs called TAF and TDF directly reduce energy production by mitochondria, structures inside cells that generate the power that cells use to function. Both drugs led to reduced cellular oxygen consumption rates, a measure of the ability of the mitochondria to produce energy, compared with controls.
Scientists identify multiple cell types that may contribute to treatment resistance in prostate cancer
Researchers have characterised prostate cancer cell dynamics at a single-cell resolution across the timespan of the disease – from its beginning to the point of androgen independence, where the tumour no longer responds to hormone deprivation therapy.
Researchers Find Link Between Immune Cells’ Closest Neighbors and Survival Time in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that the organization of different types of immune cells within pancreatic tumors is associated with how well patients with pancreatic cancer respond to treatment and how long they survive.
A Consistent Lack of Sleep Negatively Impacts Immune Stem Cells, Increasing Risk of Inflammatory Disorders and Heart Disease
Mount Sinai study also shows catching up on sleep doesn’t reverse possible negative effects on cellular level
‘Resetting’ the injured brain offers clues for concussion treatment
New research in mice raises the prospects for development of post-concussion therapies that could ward off cognitive decline and depression, two common conditions among people who have experienced a moderate traumatic brain injury.
Wistar Scientists Discover Sugar Molecule on HIV-infected Cell Plays Role in Evading Immune System — They Exploit as Weakness to Make More Effective “Natural Killers” Against HIV
A new Wistar Institute study shows how key features on the surface of HIV-infected cells help the disease evade detection by the immune system.
Right Program Could Turn Immune Cells into Cancer Killers
Cancer-fighting immune cells in patients with lung cancer whose tumors do not respond to immunotherapies appear to be running on a different “program” that makes them less effective than immune cells in patients whose cancers respond to these immune treatments, suggests a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
Studying mosquito immune cells could improve understanding of disease transmission
A recent study led by an Iowa State University entomologist explores the different kinds of cells that make up mosquito immune systems. The research could shed light on how mosquitoes transmit malaria.
The Brain’s Wiring Technicians
Research in mice reveals how a subset of highly specialized immune cells modulate brain wiring by precision-targeting inhibitory synapses.
The work deepens understanding of the versatile repertoire of microglia, the brain’s immune cells and resident garbage collectors.
The results set the stage for the development of therapies for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions marked by defects in synaptic function.
moffitt investigators identify sting gene methylation that allows melanoma to evade the immune system
A dysfunctional immune system significantly contributes to the development of cancer. Several therapeutic strategies to activate the immune system to target cancer cells have been approved to treat different types of cancer, including melanoma.
Turbocharging the killing power of immune cells against cancer
Creating “super soldiers” of specific white blood cells to boost an anti-tumour response has been shown in a series of elegant experiments by Princess Margaret researchers.
What happens in the mouth … doesn’t stay in the mouth
The healthy human oral microbiome consists of not just clean teeth and firm gums, but also bacteria living in an environment where they constantly communicate with the immune system. A growing body of evidence has shown that this system is highly influential on, and influenced by, our overall health.
Breast Cancer Cells Can Reprogram Immune Cells to Assist in Metastasis
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators report they have uncovered a new mechanism by which invasive breast cancer cells evade the immune system to metastasize, or spread, to other areas of the body. They propose that therapies targeting this process could be developed to halt or prevent metastasis and reduce breast cancer deaths.
Targeting the cancer microenvironment
The recognition of bacterial infections or foreign substances is mediated and controlled by the human immune system. This innate and adaptive immune system comprises the most important metabolic and cellulare processes to fight against infections and other diseases.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Patient First for New Cell Engineering Platform
VICC is the first cancer center to enroll a patient in a clinical trial for this new technology developed by SQZ Biotechnologies of Watertown, Massachusetts. The investigational product is generated from the company’s technology that uses high-speed cell deformation to squeeze cells, creating a temporary disruption of their membranes and offering a window for the insertion of tumor antigens.
Finding a new way to fight late-stage sepsis
Researchers have developed a way to prop up a struggling immune system to enable its fight against sepsis, a deadly condition resulting from the body’s extreme reaction to infection.
Moffitt Researchers Identify a Mechanism Controlling Tumor Cell Recognition by Immune Cells
Immunotherapy has become a standard treatment approach for several types of cancer, including melanoma. However, tumors can escape immune cell detection even with the use of immunotherapies. In a new study published in Cancer Immunology Research, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers, in collaboration with the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, describe a cellular mechanism that controls tumor cell recognition by immune cells.
University of Chicago scientists unveil the secret of cancer-associated Warburg effect
A new study, led by researchers at the University of Chicago, provides an answer to why cancer cells consume and use nutrients differently than their healthy counterparts and how that difference contributes to their survival and growth.
Blocking a Hormone’s Action in Immune Cells May Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Blocking the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR)—a protein that helps maintain normal levels of salt and water in the body—in immune cells may help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by improving blood vessel health. The study will be presented today at the American Physiological Society (APS) Aldosterone and ENaC in Health and Disease: The Kidney and Beyond Conference in Estes Park, Colo.