Researchers have revealed that people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus have immune memory to protect against reinfection for at least eight months. The research is the strongest evidence for the likelihood that vaccines against the virus,…
Diseased cell fragments burst from pockets in immune cells to activate response
Researchers have uncovered an important process in how our immune system detects signs of disease and activates a protective response. This understanding could improve efforts to find new and effective immunotherapy treatments for diseases like cancer.
The mechanics of the immune system
Not only chemistry plays a role in the docking of antigens to the T-cell; micromechanical effects are important too. Submicrometer structures on the cell surface act like microscopic tension springs. Tiny forces that occur as a result are likely to be …
How cancers hurt themselves to hurt immune cells more
A study of melanoma cells explains a puzzling response they exhibit to ward off T cell attacks.
Medical oddity reveals unheard-of ‘immunity gene’ mutations and new way to screen them
Researchers baffled by an infant’s rare encephalitis case unusual in children found unheard-of mutations and a new way to examine the ‘immunity gene.’
Protein linked to progressive lung scarring in scleroderma patients
Osteopontin is discovered as the culprit behind systemic sclerosis patients’ main cause of death: lung fibrosis. However, a repurposed immunosuppressive drug may combat the pro-inflammatory protein.
Errant DNA boosts immunotherapy effectiveness
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 new studies indicate. The findings suggest that delivering radiation – which triggers DNA re…
Genes could be key to new COVID-19 treatments, study finds
Genes involved in two molecular processes — antiviral immunity and lung inflammation — were pinpointed in new research. The breakthrough will help doctors understand how COVID-19 damages lungs at a molecular level.
Potential treatment approach kills lymphoma while sparing healthy cells
Scientists at Scripps Research have demonstrated a promising new strategy for treating lymphomas, a group of cancers that begin in infection-fighting cells of the immune system called lymphocytes.
Study uncovers two phases of infection in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia
To analyze SARS-CoV-2 at the tissue level, scientists examined lung specimens from 24 patients who succumbed to COVID-19. The analyses revealed two phases of infection in the patients: an early phase defined by high levels of virus in the lungs, and a …