Cancer researcher Miguel Reina-Campos, Ph.D., has joined the faculty of La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) as an Assistant Professor to lead the Laboratory of Tissue Immune Networks. His laboratory at LJI aims to investigate the basis of CD8+ T cell tissue immunity to improve life-saving cancer immunotherapies.
Tag: Immune System
Turbocharging CRISPR to Understand How the Immune System Fights Cancer
Harvard Medical School scientists develop new CRISPR-based tool to study the immune function of genes.
New gene-editing approach could optimize how scientists study the immune system’s role in cancer and other immune-mediated diseases.
Five Cutting-edge Advances in Biomedical Engineering and Their Applications in Medicine
Bridging precision engineering and precision medicine to create personalized physiology avatars. Pursuing on-demand tissue and organ engineering for human health. Revolutionizing neuroscience by using AI to engineer advanced brain interface systems. Engineering the immune system for health and wellness. Designing and engineering genomes for organism repurposing and genomic perturbations.
Researchers makes promising discoveries on role of vitamin B6 in pancreatic cancer
Vitamin B6 is beneficial in many ways, notably for its role in maintaining a strong immune system.
The immune system’s moonlighters
Our immune system is remarkably powerful. It quickly assembles teams of cells to eliminate threats inside our bodies.
The immune system’s moonlighters
Our immune system is remarkably powerful. It quickly assembles teams of cells to eliminate threats inside our bodies.
Scientists discover hidden army of lung flu fighters
Scientists have long thought of the fluid-filled sac around our lungs merely as a cushion from external damage.
Smoking has long-term effects on the immune system
Like other factors such as age, sex and genetics, smoking has a major impact on immune responses.
Mount Sinai Study Shows That Circulating Immune Cells Drawn to the Brain During Stress Can Control Emotional Behaviors
Findings shed light on mechanisms underlying psychosocial stress and depression susceptibility
Molecule can quickly, and briefly, boost white blood cell counts
Treatment with a molecule known as A485 can quickly and temporarily increase levels of white blood cells, a critical part of the body’s immune system, an effect that is difficult to deliver with currently available pharmaceuticals, a new Yale study finds.
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.
Cancer drug restores immune system’s ability to fight tumors
A new, bio-inspired drug restores the effectiveness of immune cells in fighting cancer, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found. In mouse models of melanoma, bladder cancer, leukemia and colon cancer, the drug slows the growth of tumors, extends lifespan and boosts the efficacy of immunotherapy.
Joint IAFNS-USDA Webinar Series Tackles Gut Health, Immune Function
Collaborative webinars to focus on key scientific trends and findings related to gut microbiome and nutrition, and the interaction of diet, stress and immune function.
Long COVID patients show distinct immune, hormone responses to virus
People suffering from long COVID symptoms show different immune and hormonal responses to the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study led by researchers at Yale School of Medicine. An estimated 7.5% of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2…
Researchers find potential way to tweak immune system to help it fight tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is old—ancient even. The infectious bacterial disease that plagued Old Testament Israelites and took down pharaohs was eventually stunted by vaccinations, antibiotics, and public health measures like isolation, but it hasn’t been cured yet. More than a million people around the world still die from TB every year.
New SARS-CoV-2 variant Eris on the rise
As a result of vaccination or infection, our immune system produces antibodies that attach to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, preventing the virus from entering and replicating within cells.
LJI scientists harness ‘helper’ T cells to treat tumors
La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) scientists have published a pair of studies that show how we might harness CD4+ T cells while boosting the cancer-fighting power of CD8+ “killer” T cells.
New LJI research has major implications for controlling T cell activity
According to new research in the journal Immunity, T cells have a nuclear receptor doing something very odd—but very important—to help them fight pathogens and destroy cancer cells.
Dr. Jaime Avila shares back-to-school tips that parents should know.
Jaime Avila, MD, at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research What can parents do to help ease back-to-school anxiety? (SOT@ :14, TRT :51) Some kids may not…
A new look inside Ebola’s “viral factories”
The study, led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), reveals the inner workings of viral factories, clusters of viral proteins and genomes that form in host cells.
Mimicking the body’s own defenses to destroy enveloped viruses
Viruses often mutate or hide themselves within cells. But by mimicking the way the immune system naturally deals with invaders, researchers reporting in ACS Infectious Diseases have developed a “peptoid” antiviral therapy that effectively inactivates three viruses in lab tests.
Alternative cellular ‘fuels’ boost immunity
A metabolic by-product that is more prevalent during fasting may supercharge immune cells as they fight infection and disease, reports an early stage study by Van Andel Institute scientists and collaborators.
New algorithm may fuel vaccine development
Immune system researchers have designed a computational tool to boost pandemic preparedness. Scientists can use this new algorithm to compare data from vastly different experiments and better predict how individuals may respond to disease.
Immune system changes behavior to promote allergen avoidance
The immune system plays a key role in changing our behaviors in response to environmental dangers, a new Yale School of Medicine study finds. Researchers found ova-allergic mice lost their avoidance behavior to the egg protein when Immunoglobulin E antibodies,…
Researchers Find an Immune System ‘Trip Wire’ That Detects COVID-19
Biologists have identified a previously unknown way that our immune system detects viruses. The immune protein CARD8 acts as a trip wire to detect a range of viruses, including the virus that causes COVID. They also found that CARD8 functions differently among species and varies between humans.
‘Tipping The Balance’ Of Immune Cells from Bad to Good Reverses Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms in Mice
According to the federal government’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, nearly 3 million people worldwide — with almost a third in the United States — are living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disabling neurological disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks nerves feeding information to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Although rarely fatal, MS can lead to long-term disabilities, and impair movement, muscle control, vision and cognition.
Immune system discovery could benefit spinal cord injuries
New research suggests that the immune system’s ability to respond to spinal cord injuries diminishes with age – and identifies potential avenues to improve that response and help patients heal.
Saturated fatty acids promote immune escape of oral cancers
A team from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and School of Dentistry, led by Yu Leo Lei, D.D.S., Ph.D., have identified a mechanism in mice for how obesity affects some oral cancers’ ability to escape from the immune system.
One step closer to eliminating latency, the real challenge in combating HIV
An international study led by MELIS-UPF researchers from the Infection Biology and Molecular Virology laboratories has identified and characterized Schlafen 12 (SLFN 12) as a novel HIV restriction factor.
How interleukin-6 helps prevent allergic asthma and atopy by suppressing interleukin-2 signaling
The immune system has a biological telecommunications system — small proteins known as interleukins that send signals among the leukocyte white blood cells to control their defense against infections or nascent cancer.
CHOP-led Study Identifies Two Different Regulatory T Cell Populations
A regulatory class of human T cells descends from two different origins, one that relates to autoimmunity and one that relates to protective immunity, according to a new study led by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The findings, published today in Science Immunology, could pave the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases that target the immune system selectively.
Traumatic Brain Injury Interferes with Immune System Cells’ Recycling Process in Brain Cells
In a new study published in the January issue of Autophagy, they found that after traumatic brain injury, the brain’s immune system cells’ internal recycling function slowed dramatically, allowing waste products to build up and interfere with recovery from injury.
20-Year Study May Upend Long-Held Theory About Chromosomes and Cancer
Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say their 20-year study of more than 200 people with premature aging syndromes caused by abnormally short telomeres, or shortened repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, may upend long-held scientific dogma and settle conflicting studies about how and whether short telomeres contribute to cancer risk.
How a Lowly Immune Cell Helps the Immune System Fight Cancer
New research reveals that long-underestimated neutrophils play key role in determining success of cancer immunotherapy
Artificial Sweetener could dampen immune response to disease in mice
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have found that high consumption of a common artificial sweetener, sucralose, lowers activation of T-cells, an important component of the immune system, in mice.
First nasal monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 shows promise for treating virus, other diseases
A pilot trial by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, tested the nasal administration of the drug Foralumab, an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody.
Harvard Medical School Media Immersion: Boston, June 8-9, 2023
Application deadline: March 31
CDI, Axiom Space Sign Agreement to Pursue Science – In Space
Hackensack Meridian science institute, commercial space leader to work together beyond our atmosphere for clues to better protect human health
Chronic Alcohol Use May Increase Risk for SARS-CoV2 Infection, Study Suggests
A newly published animal study found that chronic alcohol consumption may create conditions in the body that can facilitate infection by SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. The study, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that chronic alcohol use increased the levels of an enzyme that helps the virus enter the cells and, therefore, may increase the risk for COVID-19.
Immunaeon Joins the RegenMed Hub
Immunaeon is the latest addition to the RegeneratOR’s Innovation AcceleratOR, located in the Regenerative Medicine Hub (RegenMed Hub), a rapidly growing regenerative medicine ecosystem based in the Innovation Quarter of Winston-Salem.
How a high fat diet allows expulsion of intestinal parasite worms
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.
Why lung cancer doesn’t respond well to immunotherapy
Immunotherapy — drug treatment that stimulates the immune system to attack tumors — works well against some types of cancer, but it has shown mixed success against lung cancer.
Boosting anti-cancer antibodies by reducing their grip
New research from the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton, published ahead of World Cancer Day (4 February), has shown that changing how tightly an antibody binds to a target could improve treatments for cancer.
Immunocompromised patients remain at higher risk of COVID-19 death in hospital
People with weakened immune systems remain more likely to die if hospitalised with COVID-19 than patients with normal immune systems, a new UK study has confirmed.
More than two billion are infected with this disease; Vitamin D can help
Sarcomas are cancer tumours found in e.g. the bones, muscles or fatty tissue. It is a rare type of cancer seen in only one per cent of cancer patients. It is complex and difficult to treat.
CUVET Successfully Developed the First Stem Cell Transplantation Technology to Treat Pet Diabetes
For the first time in Thailand, a research team from Chula’s Faculty of Veterinary Science (CUVET) is the first to have successfully developed a method to culture dog pancreatic cells from stem cells and cell transplantation technology. They aim to test the method in the lab and sick animals suffering from diabetes.
American Lung Association to Study New Treatment Approach for Lung Cancer
Sean P. Pitroda, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago, has received a Lung Cancer Discovery Award and been selected to join the American Lung Association Research Team for his work to improve treatment response in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC).
LJI Instructor Annie Elong Ngono, Ph.D., wins GVN support to advance infectious disease research
LJI Instructor Annie Elong Ngono, Ph.D., has spearheaded important studies into the immune response to deadly pathogens such as dengue virus. Now, this dedication to global health and virology has earned her acceptance to the Global Virus Network’s (GVN) highly selective Rising Star Mentorship Program.
LJI researchers find missing piece of the asthma puzzle
“This is a very striking and significant result that essentially separates LIGHT from any of the other inflammatory cytokines that have been implicated in the process in severe asthmatics.”
Common immune cells can prevent intestinal healing
B cells are critical to the proper functioning of the immune system.