Feature Channels: Immunology

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New Scripps Research study offers guidance for more effective Ebola vaccines

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The latest research and feature news on vision in the Vision News Source

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Scientists at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) have identified biomarkers in melanoma that could help tailor immunotherapy treatments to maximize the benefits for patients while reducing the likelihood of severe side effects.

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Men may recover more quickly from influenza infections because they produce more of a key lung-healing protein, a study from scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests.

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New research has uncovered a protein enabling the replication of arenaviruses, lethal pathogens spreading in West Africa. The research identified DDX3 as a key factor through its unexpected ability to dismantle normal human immune system defenses. The study may pave the way to new therapeutic treatments for arenaviruses and hemorrhagic fever.

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Scientists have defined the structure and key features of a human immune-surveillance protein that guards against cancer and bacterial and viral infections The identification of two human-specific variations in the protein closes a critical knowledge gap in immunology and cancer biology The variations explain why the human protein is more precise and more selective than mammalian forms of the protein and why it targets certain types of DNA but ignores others The findings can inform the design of more precisely targeted immune therapies against cancer and a range of immune-mediated diseases

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Streck, Inc., received great interest in Streck ARM-D® Kits after its poster presentation on improved methodology for detection of antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria at ECCMID 2018 in Madrid.

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A clinical trial to evaluate the combination of ONCOS-102, an experimental anti-tumor virotherapy, with the checkpoint blockade antibody IMFINZI® (durvalumab) for advanced ovarian and colorectal cancers has been initiated.

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This month's tip sheet from Fred Hutch includes story ideas about immunotherapy for a deadly type of skin cancer, cancer care that costs twice as much but yields no better outcome, yoga and music therapies for breast cancer and more. To pursue any of these story ideas, please contact the individual listed for each.

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Researchers discovered an unexpected twist in the battle versus tumors. Researchers have found that some tumor cells display not only a weapon, but also a brake, essentially becoming a neutralizing function. The unexpected mechanism could help determine whether a cancer patient will respond to immunotherapy.

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Dr. Kimishige Ishizaka, discoverer of a novel class of antibodies and the first Scientific Director of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology (LJI), has died on July 6 in Yamagata City, Japan. He was 92 years old.

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Using genome editing to inactivate a protein called PCSK9 effectively reduces cholesterol levels in rhesus macaques, the first demonstration of a clinically relevant reduction of gene expression in a large animal model using genome editing. This finding could lead to a possible new approach for treating heart disease patients who do not tolerate PCSK9 inhibitors—drugs that are commonly used to combat high cholesterol.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists report the protein complex mTORC1 serves as a bridge between environmental signals and metabolic programs to influence the fate of developing T cells

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A DNA-sensing enzyme forms droplets that act as tiny bioreactors creating molecules to stimulate innate immunity – the body’s first response to infection, UT Southwestern researchers report.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that inhibiting a receptor on immune cells called macrophages may help relieve pain in some patients, particularly those with chronic neuropathic pain, such as those with conditions like diabetic neuropathy.

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The innate NK-cell response requires a rather carefully choreographed interaction of three cell types.

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A viral immunotherapy using a herpes virus to treat brain tumors has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in a pediatric study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama.

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A collaboration between researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, RTI International and the UNC School of Medicine has resulted in the first study to assess and compare United States travelers’ knowledge levels about the Zika virus across three regions

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Researchers at six National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) combined results from individual studies to find that 26 percent of pregnancies in 50 monkeys infected with Zika virus during the first trimester of pregnancy ended in miscarriage or stillbirth, dwarfing the nearly 8 percent rate found earlier this year by a study of women infected with Zika early in pregnancy.

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Atlantic Health System is now enrolling patients in four pancreatic cancer clinical trials. Angela Alistar, MD, a nationally known expert on pancreatic cancer, is serving as national Principal Investigator (PI) on the first trial and as local PI on three other trials.

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A research team led by Iowa State's Balaji Narasimhan and affiliated with the Nanovcaccine Institute based at Iowa State is studying nanovaccines for treating pancreatic cancer. The study is supported by a $2.67 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

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Emerging CAR-T immunotherapies leverage modified versions of patient’s T-cells to target and kill cancer cells. In a new study, published June 28 online in Cell Stem Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of Minnesota report that similarly modified natural killer (NK) cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) also displayed heightened activity against a mouse model of ovarian cancer.

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Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a protein that is crucial for activating inflammation — both the good kind of inflammation that leads to healing wounds and fighting infection, as well as excessive inflammation where the immune system can damage tissues and organs. The protein — an ion channel that spans the membrane of immune cells — presents a new target for the development of drugs that can restrain overblown inflammatory responses.

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In a new pilot study, a team led by researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine conducted the first full comparison of gonococcal gene expression and regulation in both men and women, identifying gender-specific signatures in infection and in antibiotic resistance genes.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that immune cells called macrophages can trigger smooth muscle contractions in the intestinal tract, independent of nerve cells.

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Center will help diagnose diseases, advance immunotherapy research and guide treatment choices.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (BKI) released a study investigating the use of combination checkpoint immunotherapy in the treatment of a lethal form of advanced prostate cancer. The study suggested a genetic subset of prostate cancer may benefit from this form of immunotherapy.

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Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered that microglia, specialized immune cells in the brain, play a key role in clearing dead material after brain injury. The study, which will be published June 25 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that microglia gobble up the remnants of injured neurons, which could prevent the damage from spreading to neighboring neurons and causing more extensive neurodegeneration.

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Children with known skin, food and respiratory allergies should be screened for an emerging food allergy called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a painful inflammation of the esophagus. Pediatric allergists who analyzed a very large group of children say that EoE is a later component of the “allergic march”-- in which many children successively develop a series of allergies.

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A technology developed at Israel's Technion will provide the scientific community with novel tools to gain a comprehensive understanding of immune system activity. Based on millions of scientific publications, the technology uses artificial intelligence to map disease immune profiles. These maps, which have already identified previously unknown biological interactions, will enable development of personalized, immuno-centric therapies

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A new study shows in an emergency, 52 percent of adults with potentially life-threatening allergies didn’t use the epinephrine auto-injectors (EAI) they were prescribed.

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Scientists conducting one of the largest full DNA analyses of a rare disease have identified a gene mutation associated with a perplexing brain condition that blinds and paralyzes patients.

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Cornell University researchers have discovered there is a division of labor among immune cells that fight invading pathogens in the body.

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Seattle Children’s has opened a pioneering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy trial for children and young adults with relapsed or refractory HER2-positive central nervous system (CNS) tumors where CAR T cells will be delivered directly into the brain. In the phase I trial, BrainChild-01, cancer-fighting CAR T cells will be infused through a catheter, either into the cavity where the tumor has been removed or the CNS ventricular system, depending on the location of the tumor.

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Researchers at Rutgers Cancer Institute are exploring the combination of a new anti-cancer vaccine with an immunotherapy drug approved for use in other forms of cancer to determine if the combined treatment can prompt a patient’s natural defenses (the immune system) to attack their cancer and improve their survival.

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A research team at Massachusetts Eye and Ear has shown that microglia, the primary immune cells of the brain and retina, play a protective role in response to retinal detachment.

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To remain effective, the pertussis vaccine must be modified to keep pace with evolving bacteria. As the vaccines' efficacy is declining, Heath Damron, an assistant professor in the WVU School of Medicine, is pursuing innovations to strengthen the vaccine and still keep it safe.

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DRG International’s Renin (Active) ELISA for testing of active Renin in human EDTA plasma will be on display at the AACC’s 2018 show in Chicago, Illinois from July 29 – August 2. The DRG® Renin active ELISA test is accurate in testing for certain types of hypertension and has been utilized by labs world-wide.

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DRG International, a leading international medical diagnostic company, will showcase the NEW DRG® Hepcidin 25 (bioactive) HS (High Sensitive) ELISA Kit (EIA-5782R) at the 2018 AACC Conference in Chicago, Illinois from July 29 – August 2. As the first of its kind to market, this kit accurately detects bioactive Hepcidin levels as an additional marker to aid in identifying a variety of disorders.

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A new study from researchers at Michigan Medicine explores links between chronic joint inflammation and cognitive impairment.

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Using a targeted therapy to block a protein that suppresses T cell activity could improve cancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

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Proteins commonly known as BRCA – short for BReast CAncer susceptibility gene– serve a critical role in cellular DNA repair, but when mutated they allow genetic errors to replicate, facilitating cancer development. If the BRCA repair system is disabled in cancer cells, the cells simply turn to backup repair mechanisms and adapt to alternative repair pathways, a survival mode that also underlies their ability to evade targeted drug therapies.

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LGC Maine Standards1 releases VALIDATE® Procalcitonin linearity and calibration verification kit, for Abbott ARCHITECT analyzers, Order Number 403ab. The kit, in a human-serum matrix, evaluates Procalcitonin (PCT).

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Nearly 80 million Americans – one out of every four people – are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV). And of those millions, more than 31,000 will be diagnosed with an HPV-related cancer this year. Despite those staggering figures and the availability of a vaccine to prevent the infections that cause these cancers, HPV vaccination remains low in the U.S. Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has partnered with 69 other National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers to issue a statement urging increased HPV vaccination and screening to eliminate HPV-related cancers, starting with cervical cancer.

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A weakened version of the bacteria that causes cholera provides quick protection to rabbits. The vaccine may one day stop outbreaks of the deadly intestinal disease.

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Patient age correlates with response to immunotherapy in melanoma and depleting regulatory T cells in young patients may have a therapeutic potential to enhance response in younger patients, according to research from The Wistar Institute.

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In a randomized, Phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, adding the PARP inhibitor veliparib to a standard chemotherapy agent improved overall response rates (ORR) in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Researchers also identified a select group of patients – those whose tumors expressed SLFN11— who also saw a progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) benefit, suggesting a promising biomarker for the PARP-inhibitor sensitivity in SCLC.

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New research will focus on finding better treatments for minority children with high-risk cancer malignancies — a group whose outcomes and survival rates are worse than other pediatric patients.

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Rats injected with beneficial bacteria weekly for three weeks showed lasting anti-inflammatory changes in the brain and more resilience when exposed to stress. The findings could lead to new microbiome-based immunizations for anxiety and PTSD and new treatments for depression.

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An experimental model of HIV infection in mice, developed by Mount Sinai researchers, has shown that HIV causes learning and memory dysfunction, a cognitive disease that is now observed in about half of HIV infected people that worsens with age, and is currently incurable.