Category: T
DALLAS -- Nov. 16, 2009 -- As the number of deaths related to the pandemic H1N1 virus, commonly known as "swine flu," continues to rise, researchers have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected in older adults.
BOSTON--The immune system's T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and executioner.
HOUSTON - A specific type of T helper cell awakens the immune system to the stealthy threat of cancer and triggers an attack of killer T cells custom-made to destroy the tumors, scientists from The
Researchers identified a new chromosomal abnormality in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that appears to work in concert with another mutation to give rise to cancer. This latest anomaly is particularly common in children with Down syndrome.
Like an unusually forceful career counselor, the Id3 protein decides the fate of a given white blood cell precursor, according to researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Their findings, published today in the journal Immunity, describe how Id3 directs blood cell progenitors to become gamma-delta T cells.
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 8, 2009) -- Premature aging of the immune system appears to play a role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to research scientists from the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and Sheba Medical Center in Israel.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have discovered how destructive immune cells gain access to insulin-producing cells and help cause diabetes.
The finding points to possible new strategies to halt or prevent type I diabetes.
Saranac Lake, NY -- A new study from the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York, demonstrates that immune system cells important for both pathogen resistance and vaccine efficacy live longer in older animals but because of this longevity acquire functional defects. The work may provide new targets for boosting immune system function in older individuals.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Natural killer, or NK cells, are part of our innate immune system. A healthy body produces them to respond early during infection. They are activated and they kill cells infected with a given virus.
When HIV was discovered as the causative agent of AIDS in 1984 (and has since been repeatedly proven, despite denialists claims - see Ben's post) scientists were relieved: "It's a virus! Phew, viruses are something we can deal with. Alright, somebody go cook up a vaccine: problem solved". According to wikipedia, senior figures in the US health system claimed that a vaccine would be ready in as little as two years. 25 years later HIV is getting the better of us like no other disease, and the vaccine front has seen failure after failure. Continue reading for a brief analysis of the latest HIV vaccine study: even better continue reading at Blue-Genes.net where this post was born and bred.
SAN DIEGO -- (September 24, 2009) A scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has received one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s top awards -- the 2009 NIH Director's Pioneer Award.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Immune therapies have been explored as a way to treat cancer after it develops. But a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center suggests that genetic risk of prostate cancer can be reduced by rescuing critical immune system cells.
After more than 50 experiments in mice, medical scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace of recovery after serious lung injury.
Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) report they have created the first antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of blocking infection of human cells by genetically-diverse strains of HIV.
BOSTON -- The virus responsible for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), a rare brain disease that typically affects AIDS patients and other individuals with compromised immune systems, has been found to be reactivated in multiple-sclerosis patients being treated with natalizumab (Tysabri).
