Immunology

Mesothelioma Vaccine Now Very Close

Researchers have demonstrated the safety of a potential vaccine against mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated primarily with asbestos exposure. The vaccine, which infuses uses a patient's own dendritic cells (DC) with antigen from the patient's ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Mar 4 2010 - 5:34am

Immune System Takes Out Dangerous Cells With 'Bungee Of Death'

Natural Killer (NK) cells ensnare dangerous cells, such as tumour cells and those infected with bacteria and viruses that are on the run with a bungee-like nanotube, according to research published this week in PNAS. The study shows that NK cells use this ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 9 2010 - 3:05pm

Seasonal Flu Vaccine Increased H1N1 Infection Risk?

Last year, several studies suggested that individuals in Canada who had previously been vaccinated against seasonal influenza faced an increased risk of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1). Those studies have undergone further peer review and researchers writing in PLoS ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 6 2010 - 10:39pm

Immune System And Iron- What Is Going On?

For some years now a small group of scientists have been pioneering a revolutionary idea; that the vertebrate immune system could have a role in the regulation of iron in the body. Now a study in the journal Immunology shows that human lymphocytes (white b ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Apr 30 2010 - 1:29pm

1976 'Swine Flu' Shot Fought Off New H1N1 Strain

Immunization against "swine flu" in 1976 might have partially protected some individuals from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, according to a new study in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers found that individuals who reported receiv ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 23 2010 - 12:13pm

End Of Smallpox Vaccination Caused HIV Outbreak?

Researchers writing in BMC Immunology suggest that the end of smallpox vaccination in the mid-20th century may have caused a loss of protection that contributed to the rapid contemporary spread of HIV. A team led by Raymond Weinstein, researcher at George ...

Article - News Staff - May 18 2010 - 12:04pm

Bone Marrow Enhances Immune Response To Viruses

Bone marrow cells play a critical role in fighting respiratory viruses, making the bone marrow a potential therapeutic target, especially in people with compromised immune systems, say researchers writing in Cell Host&Microbe. They have found that duri ...

Article - News Staff - May 24 2010 - 1:52pm

Universal Influenza Vaccine In The Works?

Scientists have developed a new influenza vaccine that may one day eliminate the need for seasonal flu shots. The new findings were published in the inaugural issue of mBio. The current seasonal influenza vaccine is strain-specific, targeting the globular ...

Article - News Staff - May 25 2010 - 5:14pm

Rheumatoid Arthritis- Can New Treatment Spell The Beginning Of A Cure?

Portuguese scientists have just published a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which, if translated to humans, can change the way we treat autoimmunity (and so diseases like RA but also diabetes and MS) and, with it, the lives o ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Jun 3 2010 - 10:37am

Portuguese Scientists Discover An Extraordinary New Type Of White Blood Cell

One of the biggest challenges of transplants is the need to suppress the immune response- so the new organ is not rejected- while keeping it strong enough to be able to fight all kinds of disease. As the high numbers of rejected organs show, this is a tric ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Aug 11 2010 - 5:13pm