Feature Channels: Immunology

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Intensive production can cause immunological stress in commercial broilers, leading to growth retardation and intestinal damage. In this study, multi-omics analyses reveal that chlorogenic acid (CGA) improves the growth performance, intestinal barrier function and immune function of dexamethasone-treated immunologically-stressed broilers by regulating gut microbiota, gut microbiota metabolites and jejunal proteins.

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For the first time in Thailand, lecturers at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences have successfully developed antibody from tobacco plants with inhibitory effects on the growth of cancer cells in laboratory animals. This signals hope for access to effective cancer medication and treatment at a lower cost.

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Herpes viruses are treacherous: once you are infected, you can never get rid of the virus. This is because herpes viruses lie dormant in certain host cells in the body for a lifetime.

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UNC School of Medicine researchers Angela Wahl, PhD, Balfour Sartor MD, J. Victor Garcia, PhD, and colleagues created a germ-free mouse model to evaluate the role of the microbiome in the infection, replication, and pathogenesis of HIV and the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that can cause mononucleosis and other serious diseases.

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Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that starting peanut oral immunotherapy under medical supervision during infancy can improve a child’s immune response to the food over time. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

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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.

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Which types of personalities were more hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination during the pandemic’s peak? Extroverts — according to a new study on more than 40,000 Canadians.

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CAR-T immune therapies could be effective against solid tumors if the right targets are identified, a new study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers suggests. The researchers successfully deployed CAR-T in a mouse model of ovarian cancer, a type of aggressive, solid-tumor cancer that has eluded such therapies until now.

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Allergies and asthma can significantly impact a child's well-being and academic performance, but with proper preparation and management, they can thrive in the school environment.

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The coronavirus pandemic is no longer a national emergency, but the virus that causes COVID-19 isn’t gone—and neither is the risk of getting the disease. For parents, navigating when to get their child vaccinated and knowing how to best protect their child from COVID-19 can be complicated. We spoke to Michael Smit, MD, MSPH, Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, to get an update on the latest COVID-19 vaccine information and precautions.

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University of Illinois scientists have identified a protein that plays a critical role in the action of several emerging cancer therapies. The discovery will likely aid efforts to fine-tune the use of immunotherapies against several challenging cancers.

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A mammalian protein previously shown by UT Southwestern microbiologists to inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19 in cell culture also protected live mouse models, significantly limiting infection in the lung cells and diminishing the symptoms. The findings, published in Nature Microbiology, could lead to new strategies to treat COVID-19, which still infects thousands and kills hundreds in the U.S. every week.

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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.

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Support for early career researchers is about to get a major boost, thanks to a new fellowship fund established by leaders at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and Japan-based global pharmaceutical corporation, Kyowa Kirin, Inc.

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Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have become the standard of care for patients with advanced melanoma to improve survival, but only some patients respond to this immunotherapy and have long-term benefits. The lack of a long-lasting response, researchers say, is related to failure of antitumor immunologic memory. Treatment options for advanced melanoma are limited for patients who do not respond to this type of therapy.

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are a powerful, new form of cancer therapy that are being studied to treat blood cancers. Using a new approach, Yale Cancer Center researchers at Yale School of Medicine found a new way to substantially improve the effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy. The new study was published in Nature Immunology on July 27.

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New research in colorectal cancers directed by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center suggests that expression of transcription factors — proteins that help turn specific genes on or off by binding to nearby DNA — may play a central role in the degree of DNA methylation across the genome, contributing to the development of different subtypes of these cancers. Methylation is a process in which certain chemical groups attach to areas of DNA that guide genes’ on/off switches.

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Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have designed an innovative RNA-based strategy to activate dendritic cells—which play a key role in immune response—that eradicated tumors and prevented their recurrence in mouse models of melanoma.

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Moffitt Cancer Center has appointed Paulo Rodriguez, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Immunology and co-leader of the Immuno-Oncology Program.

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In a new study, scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) compared the immune response of individuals who received older versus newer versions of the whooping cough vaccine. The unexpected findings may help explain the recent rise in whooping cough cases and point to potential targets for the next generation of vaccines.

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University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered a key driver of chronic inflammation that accelerates aging.

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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.

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In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) used electronic health record (EHR) data from more than 200,000 pediatric patients to describe patterns of pediatric allergies across the United States, validating a population-level pattern of allergy development known as the “allergic march,” in which allergies first present as eczema, followed by food allergies, asthma, and environmental allergies. The researchers also found that a rare food allergy called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), which has historically been considered a disease affecting primarily White males, is more common among non-White patients than previously reported.

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Although infections can present with many different symptoms, one common symptom is the loss of fat and muscle, a process called wasting.

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Animals and humans coexist with a vast array of microorganisms known as the microbiome, forming an intricate relationship that can range from mutually beneficial to pathogenic.

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A new study, which involved experiments on mice and human patients, uncovered an important communication pathway between two molecules called CEACAM1 (CC1) and TIM-3, finding that the pathway plays a crucial role in controlling the body's immune response during liver transplantation.

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University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers engineered a new type of CAR T-cell therapy that, in preclinical studies, selectively attacked cancer cells while sparing healthy cells, potentially reducing the likelihood of toxic side effects from this innovative cancer treatment.

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People who start taking medication soon after the first signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) may have a lower risk of disability later, according to a study published in the July 19, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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New research suggests that targeting autoimmune inflammation associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using two drugs, one of them already approved for multiple sclerosis, could be a promising approach for treatment.

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The Cancer Research Institute awarded $28.7 million in research grants and fellowships in the 2023 fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. In total, CRI distributed 73 awards that will advance cancer immunology research at 41 institutions in 10 countries. CRI grants were awarded to support projects involving a variety of immune-based approaches as well as the development of novel technologies that may help pave the way for the next generation of immunotherapies.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.

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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.

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People who contract COVID-19 but never develop symptoms – the so-called super dodgers – may have a genetic ace up their sleeve. They’re more than twice as likely as those who become symptomatic to carry a specific gene variation that helps them obliterate the virus, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco researchers. 

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A new study in mice suggests that having a common form of the flu during pregnancy may affect the next generation by impairing immune function in the gut. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

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Systemic autoimmune diseases are characterized by inflammation of multiple organs and can have devastating consequences for patients. There is a dire need for treatments against these diseases.

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CEPI to provide up to $4.98 USD million to Houston Methodist Research Institute-led consortium to use artificial intelligence for design of vaccines to fight diseases with pandemic potential. The project will support a consortium, led by HMRI, to design potential antigenic targets for up to 10 priority virus families with epidemic or pandemic potential. Laboratory-based tests will then be used to verify antigen designs for possible further development.

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Giving patients with operable pancreatic cancers a three-pronged combination immunotherapy treatment consisting of the pancreatic cancer vaccine GVAX, the immune checkpoint therapy nivolumab and urelemab, an anti-CD137 agonist antibody treatment, is safe, it increases the amount of cancer-killing immune system T cells in the tumors and it appears effective when given two weeks prior to cancer-removal surgery, according to new research directed by Johns Hopkins investigators.