http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Biological processes are generally based on events at the molecular and cellular level. To understand what happens in the course of infections, diseases or normal bodily functions, scientists would need to examine individual cells and their activity directly in the tissue. The development of new microscopes and fluorescent dyes in recent years has brought this scientific dream tantalisingly close. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now presented not one, but two studies introducing new indicator molecules which can visualise the activation of T cells. Their findings provide new insight into the role of these cells in the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The new indicators are set to be an important tool in the study of other immune reactions as well. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-immune-cell-multiple-sclerosis.html Immunology Fri, 24 May 2013 11:35:22 EST news288614094 Together with colleagues from the international rheumatic diseases research community, scientists of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have presented a new therapy approach for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic form of joint inflammation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-arthritis-treatments-rheumatism-patients.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:40:05 EST news280074115 Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are the immune system's patrol. They recognize foreign threats and trigger a defensive response, while restraining immune reactions against inappropriate targets like host proteins. They achieve the former via a mechanism called cross-presentation, which displays pieces of pathogens to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs)—the immune system's 'attack dogs'—while the latter function relies on cDC interactions with regulatory T (Treg) cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cellular.html Medical research Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:00:23 EST news273488412 The immune system is a vital part of our defenses against pathogens, but it can also attack host tissues, resulting in autoimmune disease. The antigens that induce destructive immune reactions can now be identified directly – without any prior knowledge of their possible structure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-green-game-method-identification-antigens.html Immunology Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:12:47 EST news253275157