Feature Channels: Immunology

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The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year $9.6 million grant to the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to create the Center for Solutions for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CfS for ME/CFS), an inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional research group dedicated to understanding the biology of the disease in order to develop effective means to diagnose, treat and prevent it. This Center will be one of three ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs) that will be awarded, together with a Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC).

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Pfizer Inc. today announced that they have entered into a clinical collaboration to study novel combinations of three Pfizer investigational immuno-oncology therapies and other Pfizer agents in the treatment of various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

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The same countries hard hit by Zika virus – which can cause brain damage in babies infected before birth – are also home to dengue virus. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers report that they have found an antibody that protects against both viruses. These findings, in mice, could be a step towards an antibody-based preventative drug to protect fetuses from brain damage, while also protecting their mothers from both Zika and dengue disease.

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A new study involving patients with stage IV cancer finds that treatment with radiation therapy and immunotherapy can halt the growth of tumors by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer.

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Investigators at CHLA have identified the molecular pathway used to foster neuroblastoma and demonstrated use of a clinically available agent, ruxolitinib, to block the pathway.

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Multiple sclerosis can be inhibited or reversed using a novel gene therapy technique that stops the disease’s immune response in mouse models, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

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Scientists have found that ignored pieces of DNA play a critical role in the development of immune cells (T cells). These areas activate a change in the structure of DNA that brings together crucial elements necessary for T cell formation. This “big bang” discovery may aid in combating diseases.

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Checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy has been shown to be very effective in recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer but only in a minority of patients. University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers may have found a way to double down on immunotherapy’s effectiveness.

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For years, medical investigators have tried and failed to develop vaccines for a type of staph bacteria associated with the deadly superbug MRSA. But a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators shows how staph cells evade the body’s immune system, offering a clearer picture of how a successful vaccine would work.

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An investigational therapy using modified poliovirus to attack cancer tumors appears to unleash the body’s own capacity to fight malignancies by activating an inflammation process that counter’s the ability of cancer cells to evade the immune system.

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University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers are investigating a new approach to treat high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas by combining two immunotherapy drugs with radiation therapy to stimulate the immune system to destroy the main tumor as well as leftover microscopic cancer cells that may seed other tumors.

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Specific immune cells have the ability to produce a healing factor that can promote wound repair in the intestine, a finding that could lead to new, potential therapeutic treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new research study.

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Dr. Ravid Straussman and colleagues have discovered that bacteria not only live in pancreatic cancer, but are able to render a chemo drug ineffective. Fortunately, it appears that taking antibiotics allows the chemo to work again.

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Training at altitude – meaning under low-oxygen conditions – turns athletes into super-performers. Likewise, Prof. Guy Shakhar has found, oxygen-starved T cells become super-effective at attacking cancer. These T cells could provide an immediate way to improve cancer immunotherapy.

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A research team at NYU School of Medicine and its Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine is one of six from across the United States to receive newly established innovation funds from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ biomedical programs.

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HHMI announces the selection of 15 exceptional early career scientists as the first group of HHMI Hanna Gray Fellows. The 2018 Hanna Gray Fellows competition is now open, with applications due on January 10, 2018.

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A Ludwig Cancer Research study has uncovered a new mechanism by which cancer cells evade destruction by the immune system. The paper, led by Camilla Jandus of the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, describes how immune cells known as group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are recruited by leukemic cells to suppress an essential anticancer immune response.

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Researchers at the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) have discovered a means of immunising cells against the biological weapon ricin, as reported in the current issue of Cell Research.

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Immune-cell based therapies opening a new frontier for cancer treatment carry unique, potentially lethal side effects that provide a new challenge for oncologists, one addressed by a team led by clinicians at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with proposed guidelines for systematically dealing with the toxicities of these drugs.

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A UCLA study has uncovered the mechanisms by which treatment-resistant melanoma become vulnerable to cessation of a class of drugs called MAP kinase (MAPK)-targeted inhibitors. By identifying these mechanisms, the scientists discovered that therapeutic benefits for patients could derive from a one-two punch of a drug holiday of MAPK inhibitors followed by a class of drugs called DNA repair inhibitors.

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Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is part of a select group of health care institutions recently chosen to offer a new FDA-approved immunotherapy for a subset of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

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The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is awarding $275,000 in research awards to four early-career scientists as part of the Society’s efforts to retain and foster the intellectual research talent currently entering the field of radiation oncology.

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Researchers from the University of Adelaide have found a new link between the brain's immune system and the desire to drink alcohol in the evening.

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Karen Rasmussen knows the roadways and highways of Harris County too well. As driver for Harris Health System’s mobile immunization unit, she’s traveled nearly 30,000 miles in the last seven years crisscrossing the nation’s third largest county to vaccinate children.

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Waking up in the morning with the joint pain, swelling and stiffness that accompanies lupus doesn’t exactly inspire a workout. But research in mice and a related pilot study in humans are showing how regular activity and stress reduction could lead to better health in the long run.

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Lymphatic vessels, often blamed for enabling cancer cells to spread from a primary location to many other sites, have a flip side. A team of researchers found that in patients being treated with checkpoint inhibitors, lymphangiogenesis boosts the immune system’s primary anti-cancer tool, T cells, enabling them to infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells.

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A combination immunotherapy treatment showed better overall survival in patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma than current therapy, according to results from a phase 3 clinical trial presented at a symposium for medical oncology in Spain.

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Large boils, acid-like facial wounds, death by maiming of viscera. Leishmania parasites inflict suffering that is the stuff of parables. They're the second-deadliest parasites after malaria, and global warming is pushing them north. Can this new experimental vaccine someday stop them?

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Stanford University and the University of Florida report the development of a novel antibody detection technology that holds promise for improving the accuracy of diagnostic tests for type 1 diabetes in young children and making populationwide screening practical.

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The press program for the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) will feature advances in cancer research, including reports from phase II and III clinical trials. Studies that examine innovative treatments, such as immunotherapy, mental health influences on cancer outcomes and optimal radiation dosing and sequencing, will also be presented at the largest meeting for the field of radiation oncology.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a discovery that could speed efforts to develop a successful HIV vaccine.

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Scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have initiated a phase 1 clinical trial to test a novel cancer treatment for certain kinds of cancers that have a specific tumor marker called NY-ESO-1.

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Oncology researchers studying high-risk children’s cancers have identified a protein that offers a likely target for immunotherapy--harnessing the immune system in medical treatments. In cell cultures and animal models, a potent drug attached to an antibody selectively zeroes in on cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

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T lymphocytes found in tumors and implicated in killing tumor cells cope with the shortage of oxygen and nutrients in the tumor microenvironment by using fat as the main source of energy. Promoting a switch from glucose to fatty acid to generate energy enhances T cell antitumor activity.

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Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sema4, and collaborating institutions today published results of an in-depth, multi-omics approach to characterizing the immune component of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

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The immunotherapy drug nivolumab is safer and more effective than ipilimumab—the current standard of care—in treating patients with resected stage III and stage IV melanoma.

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ZOWEEEE!! Kennesaw State University’s Office of Research recorded a big first: 4 DIFFERENT researchers garnered 4 NSF grants over 4 days. “This is a really cool story for us,” said Jonathan McMurry, associate vice president for research. “It was almost surreal, every day a new grant coming in!”

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M. Celeste Simon, PhD, who studies cancer cell metabolism, tumor immunology, and the influence of oxygen availability and deprivation on tumor growth, has been given a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award.

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UCLA has received an $8.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research ways to help donated livers last longer and improve outcomes for transplant recipients.

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In a two-year study at UCLA, nearly two-thirds of people with advanced melanoma responded positively to a treatment that combines the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab with a herpes virus called talimogene laherpareovec, or T-VEC. Researchers led by Dr. Antoni Ribas found that the treatment's side effects were manageable, and comparable to side effects for people who took either pembrolizumab or T-VEC as a standalone treatment.

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Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests.

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The best way to find out if someone has a food allergy is through an oral food challenge (OFC) under the supervision of a board-certified allergist. A new study shows that OFCs are extremely safe, with very few people having a reaction of any kind.

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A form of the fatty acid-derived bioactive molecule called lipoxin improved heart function after a heart attack, as the lipoxin prompted early activation of the resolving phase of the immune response in mice without altering the acute phase.

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Scientists have identified a class of compounds that can block transmission of the parasite that causes malaria and reduce resistance to currently available drugs.

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A surprising discovery that immune cells possess an internal warehouse of glycogen used to activate immune responses could help to increase immune activity in vaccines or suppress immune reactions in autoimmune disease or hyper-inflammatory conditions.

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A clinical trial testing the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab shows the drug to be well tolerated among patients who have carcinoid or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. That’s according to investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and others. The work is being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2017 Congress next week in Madrid.

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A toxin produced by a bacterium that causes urinary tract infections is related to, yet different in key ways from, the toxin that causes whooping cough, according to new research. The findings, which will be published in the Sept. 8 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, could aid in the development of new vaccines.

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Recent outbreaks of Zika virus have revealed that the virus causes brain defects in unborn children. But in a study to be published September 5 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, San Diego report that the virus could eventually be used to target and kill cancer cells in the brain.