antibodies
Researchers have revealed a direct relationship between two specific antibodies and the severity of Alzheimer's disease symptoms, raising hopes that a diagnostic blood test for the devastating disorder is within reach.
New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine identifies the presence of cardiovascular risk factors as an indicator of how likely it is that elderly, hospitalized patients who receive intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment will have a stroke or heart attack.
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have determined the atomic structure of the 'binding' between a brain protein and an antibody that could be key to treating patients with diseases such as variant CJD.
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammation of unknown etiology that is characterized by the presence of circulatory autoantibodies and ongoing liver tissue damage.
A team of scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has found a way to use specially programmed chemicals to elicit an immediate immune response in laboratory animals against two types of cancer.
By studying how mice fight off infection by intestinal worms - a condition that affects more than 1 billion people worldwide - scientists have discovered that the immune system is more versatile than has long been thought.
New research expands our understanding of how a type of immune cell called a B lymphocyte enables the immune system to mount a successful defense against an intestinal parasite. The study, published by Cell Press online in the journal Immunity on 26 February, provides some intriguing insight into the variety of mechanisms implemented by B cells to protect the host from infection.
Scientists have identified a small family of lab-made proteins that neutralize a broad range of influenza A viruses, including the H5N1 avian virus, the 1918 pandemic influenza virus and seasonal H1N1 flu viruses.
Scientists have piggybacked antibodies onto radioactive payloads to deliver doses of radiation that selectively target and destroy microbial and HIV-infected cells
Someday in the not-too-distant future patients may visit a doctor's office, provide a sample of saliva or blood, and know in minutes if they are prone to heart disease, gum disease, or cancer. There would be no sending samples to off-site labs for analysis and waiting days to obtain the vital information. A five-pound, hand-held medical diagnostic device being developed at the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories promises to be this ticket to better health for millions of Americans.
Scientists at The Rockefeller University have determined that despite the fact that the autoimmune disease lupus results from a combination of genetics that likely varies from person to person, a common "gatekeeper" gene called FCR?IIB has been identified that is critical to the prevention of this devastating disease. What's more, the same scientists have determined that reversing the defect of that gatekeeper gene can restore health in animal models of lupus by preventing the unfortunate accumulation of auto-antibodies (molecular "arrows" that trigger immune system assault on the body's own tissues) that lead to the vexing symptoms -- fatigue, fever, joint pain, anemia, and in some cases, kidney failure, seizures and neurological damage, blood clotting and respiratory inflammation -- associated with the disease.
Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
In a study published online January 23, 2005 in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers found that human embryonic stem cells, including those currently approved for study under federal funding in the U.S., contain a non-human, cell-surface sialic acid called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), even though human cells are genetically unable to make it. In a related paper published November 29, 2004 by the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC), the Varki group has also discovered the exact cellular mechanism by which this occurs.
Duke University Medical Center researchers have shown that the protein produced by an artificial HIV-1 gene triggers anti-HIV-1 immune responses in animals. Such proteins -- produced by genes engineered to have "centralized" structures similar to those in several HIV strains -- could serve as a basis for vaccines that protect against many strains. Showing that artificial genes produce biologically functional proteins is a significant step in HIV vaccine development, the researchers said.
A new study provides evidence that a herpes vaccine developed by a Harvard Medical School researcher is a strong candidate for testing in humans. The study, published online Dec. 14 in the Journal of Virology, compared three different experimental vaccines for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes most cases of genital herpes.
Identifying asymptomatic people with genital herpes infection through targeted screening of high-risk groups may prevent disease transmission. However, widespread screening of pregnant women is unlikely to reduce the occurrence of herpes in newborns, according to an article in the January 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infects more than one-fifth of the United States population, but about 90 percent of those people are unaware that they are infected, since most do not experience any symptoms.
