A new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests that T cells try to fight SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a broad range of sites on the virus—beyond the key sites on the virus's spike protein. By attacking the virus from many angles, the body has the tools to potentially recognize different SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that immune cells stationed in sinuses in the meninges — the covering of the brain and spinal cord — monitor the brain and initiate an immune response if they detect a problem.
A new study demonstrates that antibodies generated by the novel coronavirus react to other strains of coronavirus and vice versa, according to research published today by scientists from Oregon Health & Science University.
CLEVELAND: As part of the new Cleveland Innovation District announced today by State of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, JobsOhio and Ohio Development Services Agency, Cleveland Clinic will significantly expand its global commitment to infectious disease research and translational programs to form the Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health. The new Center will position Ohio as an international leader for research into emerging pathogens and virus-related diseases and will serve as a significant economic catalyst in Northeast Ohio. Funding comes through a $500 million investment from the State of Ohio, JobsOhio and Cleveland Clinic.
The University of Miami Health System is one of five sites nationally and the only one in the Southeast U.S. chosen to participate in a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) study looking at people who have had COVID-19 or have had a COVID-19 vaccine to examine the durability and robustness of participants’ antibody and T-cell responses to the virus.
DALLAS – Jan. 25, 2021 – Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells are missing a surface protein that triggers an immune response, allowing them to hide from one of the body’s key cancer defenses, a new study led by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The findings, reported online today in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, could lead to new treatments for SCLC, which has no effective therapies.
In a promising result for the success of vaccines against COVID-19, rhesus macaque monkeys infected with the human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 developed protective immune responses that might be reproduced with a vaccine.
Researchers at Canada's McMaster University have established in lab settings that a novel combination of two forms of immunotherapy can be highly effective for treating lung cancer, which causes more deaths than any other form of cancer.
A big question on people's minds these days: how long does immunity to SARS-CoV-2 last following infection? Now a research team from La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), The University of Liverpool and the University of Southampton has uncovered an interesting clue. Their new study suggests that people with severe COVID-19 cases may be left with more of the protective "memory" T cells needed to fight reinfection.
The study demonstrates that T cell activation increases intracellular trafficking via the endoplasmic-reticulum-to-Golgi pathway, and that a protein known as SEC23B — a subunit of the COPII complex — regulates T cells’ production of these important secretory proteins after activation. The work points toward a new potential therapeutic target for decreasing the severity of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), a potentially fatal complication of bone marrow transplantation.
DALLAS – Jan. 19, 2021 – Eliminating a single gene can turn exhausted cancer-fighting immune cells known as CD8+ T cells back into refreshed soldiers that can continue to battle malignant tumors, a new study led by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The findings, published online this week in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer, could offer a new way to harness the body’s immune system to attack cancers.
Scientists have shown that two species of seasonal human coronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2 can evolve in certain proteins to escape recognition by the immune system, according to a study published today in eLife.
A collaborative study shows COVID-19 virus triggers antibodies from previous coronavirus infections, such as the common cold. It may also explain how previous exposure could partially account for differences in severity between old vs. young patients
Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), a rare form of lymphoma, does not have any known cure and only one FDA-approved treatment making it challenging to treat patients. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire took the novel approach of targeting specific cell proteins that control DNA information using inhibitors, or drugs, that were effective in reducing the growth of the cancer cells and when combined with a third drug were even more successful in killing the WM cancer cells which could lead to more treatment options.
Wistar scientists discovered that EGR1 inhibits expression of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages. The discovery expands the understanding of how macrophages are set off and deactivated in the inflammatory process, which is critical in many normal and pathological conditions.
While we wait for our turn to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, we could – and probably should – use the time to make sure we bring our healthiest emotional and physical selves to the treatment, a new review of previous research suggests.
Nearly half of summer camps surveyed by researchers didn’t have official policies requiring campers be vaccinated, according to findings led by Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in JAMA Pediatrics. Of 378 camps represented, just 174 reportedly had immunization policies for campers and 133 (39%) mandated staffers be vaccinated.
Macrophages, the killer cells of the immune system, are controlled by circadian rhythms, a finding which may indicate that our ability to fight disease relies more heavily on daily circadian cycles than previously assumed.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed, in collaboration with researchers in Germany and the U.S., new small antibodies, also known as nanobodies, which prevent the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from entering human cells.
Antibodies are an important weapon in the immune system's defense against infections.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified the sensor in human lungs that detects SARS-CoV-2 and signals that it’s time to mount an antiviral response.
What is the endgame for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that is causing worldwide devastation?
Wistar scientists have created an advanced humanized immune system mouse model that allows them to examine resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapies in melanoma. It has revealed a central role for mast cells.
People taking immunosuppressive drugs to prevent organ transplant rejection or to treat inflammatory or autoimmune diseases do not fare worse than others on average when they are hospitalized with COVID-19.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of international COVID-19 literature, led by UNSW Sydney, has confirmed that while children under five years old were likely to recover from the infection, half of those infected were infants and almost half of the infected under-fives were asymptomatic.
The findings, based on analyses of blood samples from 188 COVID-19 patients, suggest that responses to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from all major players in the "adaptive" immune system, which learns to fight specific pathogens, can last for at least eight months after the onset of symptoms from the initial infection.
SEATTLE —Jan. 6, 2020 —Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news with links for additional background and media contacts.Scientists predict progress against COVID-19, cancer in 2021 Just as the COVID-19 pandemic dominated our lives in 2020, it was a huge focus for many researchers at Fred Hutch.
Smoking is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms and smokers are more likely to attend hospital than non-smokers, a study has found.
DALLAS – Jan. 6, 2020 – UT Southwestern scientists have developed a new method to study the molecular characteristics of T cells, critical immune cells that recognize and attack invaders in the body such as viruses, bacteria, and cancer.
A sugar-binding protein could fuel terrible inflammation and worsen sepsis, a disease that kills more than 270,000 people every year in the US alone, reports a team of researchers led by UConn Health in the 4 January issue of Nature Immunology.
A research study at the University of Chicago has found that in pregnancy, while the T cell response to a fetus becomes tolerant to allow for successful pregnancy, the part of the immune system that produces antibodies (known as the humoral response) becomes sensitized, creating memory B cells that can later contribute to the rejection of a transplanted organ.
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that a protein called NF-kappa B-inducing kinase (NIK) is essential for the shift in metabolic activity that occurs with T cell activation, making it a critical factor in regulating the anti-tumor immune response.
In some cases, immune cells in the lungs can contribute to worsening a virus attack. In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden describe how different kinds of immune cells, called macrophages, develop in the lungs and which of them may be behind severe lung diseases.
Around a third of the world's population carries Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that puts people with a weakened immune system at risk and can trigger malformations in the womb.
Recent analyses indicate that pregnant women and newborns may face elevated risks of developing more severe cases of COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Pregnant women may be especially vulnerable to developing more severe cases of COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection, but little is known about their anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response or how it may affect their offspring.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how our small genetic differences can have a tremendous effect on how our bodies respond to disease. Researchers have created 3D maps of how enhancer sequences and genes interact in several types of immune cells. Their new study opens the door to understanding individual risk for diseases from asthma to cancer.
An opinion piece published today online in BMJ by Nina Schwalbe in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, calls for a national vaccine strategy now that COVID-19 vaccines are available.
In urban environments, allergic diseases are more common among dogs and their owners compared to those living in rural areas. Simultaneous allergic traits appear to be associated with the microbes found in the environment, but microbes relevant to health differ between dogs and humans.
DALLAS – Dec. 17, 2020 – DNA that ends up where it doesn’t belong in cancer cells can unleash an immune response that makes tumors more susceptible to immunotherapy, the results of two UT Southwestern studies indicate. The findings, published online today in Cancer Cell, suggest that delivering radiation – which triggers DNA release from cells – before immunotherapy could be an effective way to fight cancers that are challenging to treat.
DALLAS – Dec. 16, 2020 – A team led by UT Southwestern researchers has identified a key gene necessary for cells to consume and destroy viruses. The findings, reported online today in Nature, could lead to ways to manipulate this process to improve the immune system’s ability to combat viral infections, such as those fueling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As we wait for COVID-19 to be contained, allergies and asthma haven't gone away and need to be addressed in the new year.
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to show differences in how Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody drug, interacts with the blood of healthy individuals compared to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
New research by scientists at the University of Chicago suggests a person’s antibody response to influenza viruses is dramatically shaped by their pre-existing immunity, and that the quality of this response differs in individuals who are vaccinated or naturally infected. Their results highlight the importance of receiving the annual flu vaccine to induce the most protective immune response.
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed a novel serological assay for the detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Awareness of guidelines to prevent COVID-19 is high among young asthma sufferers but around a third do not comply with them, according to a new survey published in the Journal of Asthma.
An enzyme in the colon lining releases hydrogen peroxide – a known disinfecting compound- to protect the body from gut microbial communities. Findings from the UC Davis Health study points to importance of considering a different approach to treating gut inflammation and bacterial imbalance in the colon.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Tuesday.
Researchers at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have reported the first instance of COVID-19 triggering a recurrence of Guillain–Barré Syndrome – a rare disorder where the body’s immune system attacks nerves and can lead to respiratory failure and death.
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