Feature Channels: Immunology

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Human immunodeficiency virus 1, more commonly known as HIV-1, is known for its uncanny ability to evade the immune system.

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Researchers at the University of Southampton have gained unprecedented new insight into the key properties of an antibody needed to fight off cancer.

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In a new article published in Cancer Research Communications, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers describe the signaling pathways that regulate YAP1 and how the protein contributes to angiogenesis under normal and low oxygen conditions.

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UC San Diego researchers say they may have found the reason why multiple human clinical trials of staphylococcus vaccines have failed: the bacteria knows us too well.

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A new type of vaccine provides protection against a variety of SARS-like betacoronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 variants, in mice and monkeys, according to a study led by researchers in the laboratory of Caltech's Pamela Bjorkman, the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Bioengineering.

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Users of fourth-generation nicotine-salt-containing devices, such as Juul and disposable devices, display a unique mix of cellular biomarkers indicative of immune suppression.

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Could the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine reawaken previous antibody responses and point the way to a universal coronavirus vaccine? A new analysis of the antibody response to a COVID-19 vaccine suggests the immune system’s history with other coronaviruses, including those behind the common cold, shapes the patient’s response, according to a recently published study published in Cell Reports.

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A COVID CommUNITY – South Asian study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open has found that South Asian communities living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) suffered disproportionately from COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic.

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A new universal flu vaccine constructed with key parts of the influenza virus offers broad cross protection against different strains and subtypes of influenza A viruses in young and aged populations, according to a new study by researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

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The experts agree — the pandemic is not over. Infections are ticking up again, fueled by the new variants our immune systems are ill prepared for.

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Researchers are expanding their understanding of unique immune “memory” cells equipped to remember malicious invaders. They developed an atlas that describes tissue-resident memory cells in diverse settings, boosting prospects for new immune defense strategies at vulnerable infection sites.

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A new study has found that a highly antibiotic-resistant strain of the superbug MRSA – methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus – has emerged in livestock in the last 50 years, probably due to widespread antibiotic use in pig farming.

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The virus that causes COVID-19 takes over the body’s fat-processing system and boosts cellular triglycerides as it causes disease.

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Researchers identify new mechanism that teaches immune cells-in-training to spare the body’s own tissues while attacking pathogens.

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With the vaccine for children ages 6 months and older approved, the experts at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provide guidance for families. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone approved to receive a COVID-19 vaccine get one—including children ages 6 months and older.

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A study of 10,775 high-risk adult patients during the COVID-19 delta variant surge in late 2021 finds that treatment with one of three anti-spike neutralizing monoclonal antibodies for mild to moderate symptoms led to low rates of severe disease, hospitalization, ICU admission and mortality, according to Mayo Clinic researchers.

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In a new study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers provide additional evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy helps protect babies younger than 6 months from being hospitalized due to COVID-19. The risk of COVID-19 hospitalization among babies was reduced by about 80 percent during the Delta wave (July 1–December 18, 2021) and 40 percent during the Omicron wave (December 19–March 8, 2022).

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Wistar announces that for the first time it will globally stream its 26th Annual Jonathan Lax Memorial Award Lecture, celebrating 26 years of providing state-of-research updates to the community, on Tuesday, June 28 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. EST.

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A $10 million grant over four years will support further examination of a national study looking at COVID-19 vaccination safety during pregnancy and immune response pre-and post-delivery for both mom and baby.

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Start preparing now to make your 4th of July holiday allergy and asthma-free.

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Aresearch team is testing a protein block to suppress specific cells of the body’s immune system contribute to developing type 1 diabetes. If successful, the drug would diminish autoimmunity, preserving the body’s ability to naturally produce more insulin, the researchers said.

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The study found that Omicron-specific antibodies reached detectable levels in 86% of nursing home residents and 93% of healthcare workers after receiving the booster shot, compared to just 28% of nursing home residents and healthcare workers after the initial two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series.

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According to a paper published in Frontiers in Oncology, daily use of a unique mushroom extract AHCC® supported the immune system in clearing HPV infections in two-thirds of study participants after six months of supplementation.

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Researchers have discovered epidermal immunity from nighttime bacterial invasion in mice when the expression of the CXCL14 signaling protein was higher than during the daytime. The circadian-dependent role of CXCL14 is crucial as it transports important DNA into immune cells.

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New understanding of protein function also has implications for immunotherapies

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Rabies virus kills a shocking 59,000 people each year, many of them children. In a new study, researchers from La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Institut Pasteur share a promising path to better vaccine design.

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A new study examining how to harness one’s immune system to eliminate metastatic breast cancer (MBC) tumors in the body is receiving a three-year $600,000 grant from Susan G. Komen®, the world’s leading breast cancer organization.

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The origins of our blood may not be quite what we thought. Using cellular “barcoding” in mice, a groundbreaking study finds that blood cells originate not from one type of mother cell, but two, with potential implications for blood cancers, bone marrow transplant, and immunology. Fernando Camargo, PhD, of the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children’s Hospital led the study, published in Nature on June 15.

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Two broadly neutralizing antibodies show great promise to provide long-acting immunity against COVID-19 in immunocompromised populations according to a paper published June 15 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM). The antibodies were effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern tested and could be used alone or in an antibody cocktail to diminish the risk of infection.

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Researchers have unmasked a component of the cell death process that could play a vital role in a better infection-fighting strategy.

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Here are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Aging channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.

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Advances in nanotechnology have made it possible to fabricate structures out of DNA for use in biomedical applications like delivering drugs or creating vaccines, but new research in mice investigates the safety of the technology.

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New research from UT Southwestern suggests that RNA exosomes – the cellular machines that degrade old molecules of RNA – play a key role in the development of B cells, which are critical to the immune system’s ability to protect against infection. The findings, published in Science Immunology, explain why patients with rare mutations in a gene that codes for this machinery are often immunodeficient and could offer new approaches to treat autoimmune diseases.

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Inactivated and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe for patients treated for hypothyroidism, according to a new study being presented at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. The study found these vaccines do not cause significant fluctuations in thyroid function and are not associated with increased risks of emergency department visits or unscheduled hospitalizations.

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McMaster University scientists who compared respiratory vaccine-delivery systems have confirmed that inhaled aerosol vaccines provide far better protection and stronger immunity than nasal sprays.

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As a worldwide shortage of contrast dye for medical imaging continues, a new UC San Francisco research letter in JAMA quantified strategies medical facilities can employ to safely reduce dye use in computed tomography (CT) by up to 83%. CT is the most common use for the dye.

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A research team led by UCLA’s Anusha Kalbasi, MD, has shown that a synthetic IL-9 receptor allows cancer-fighting T cells to do their work without the need for chemotherapy or radiation.

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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.

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Sepsis, the body’s overreaction to an infection, affects more than 1.5 million people and kills at least 270,000 every year in the U.S. alone. The standard treatment of antibiotics and fluids is not effective for many patients, and those who survive face a higher risk of death. In new research, the lab of Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong at the University of Wisconsin–Madison reported a new nanoparticle-based treatment that delivers anti-inflammatory molecules and antibiotics.

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Cedars-Sinai clinicians and scientists, including anti-rejection therapy pioneer Stanley Jordan, MD, will share their latest advances in research at the American Transplant Congress (ATC), June 4-8, 2022, in Boston. The ATC is the joint annual meeting of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation.

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The claim that the available COVID-19 vaccines are behind the monkeypox outbreak, and that monkeypox is basically shingles, which they claim is a side effect of the vaccines, is entirely false.