http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival and improved lung function in animal models of pneumonia. They reported their findings today in Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-immunity-protein-ramps-inflammation-agents.html Immunology Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:00:01 EST news283951880 (Medical Xpress)—For an immune response to get underway, an invading microbe must first be halted in the spleen, and then digested by immune cells known as 'dendritic cells', which guard specific portals. Australian scientists have now shown how these gatekeepers position themselves to undertake their task. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-immune-positions-gatekeepers.html Immunology Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:29:23 EST news282900532 The immune system's T cells, while coordinating responses to diseases and vaccines, act like honey bees sharing information about the best honey sources, according to a new study by scientists at UC San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-immune-cells-cluster-bees.html Immunology Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:40:54 EST news282400841 (Medical Xpress)—Eating your greens may be even more important that previously thought, with the discovery that an immune cell population essential for intestinal health could be controlled by leafy greens in your diet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-gene-discovery-reveals-importance-greens.html Immunology Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:25:10 EST news281604297 The powerful master regulatory transcription factor called Bcl6 is key to the survival of a majority of aggressive lymphomas, which arise from the B-cells of the immune system. The protein has long been considered too complex to target with a drug since it is also crucial to the healthy functioning of many immune cells in the body, not just B cells gone bad. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-shutdown-cancer-powerful-master-protein.html Immunology Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:00:24 EST news281519760 Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have found a potential mechanism by which immune suppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells can prevent immune response from developing in cancer. This mechanism includes silencing the tumor suppressor gene retinoblastoma 1 or Rb1. Their data explains a new regulatory mechanism by which myeloid-derived suppressor cells are expanded in cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-silencing-retinoblastoma-gene-differentiation-myeloid.html Immunology Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:30:02 EST news280491528 Scientists have identified the gene essential for survival of antibody-producing cells, a finding that could lead to better treatments for diseases where these cells are out of control, such as myeloma and chronic immune disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-immune-cell-survival-gene-key.html Immunology Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:00:23 EST news279115369 Reseachers from the University of Melbourne and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) have discovered a new protein that protects against viral infections such as influenza. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-conquering-influenza.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:36:09 EST news278663763 (Medical Xpress)—Misguided killer T cells may be the missing link in sustained tissue damage in the brains and spines of people with multiple sclerosis, findings from the University of Washington reveal.  Cytoxic T cells, also known as CD8+ T cells, are white blood cells that normally are in the body's arsenal to fight disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-multiple-sclerosis-reveals-killer-cells.html Immunology Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:49:15 EST news277109347 (Medical Xpress)—Using a super-resolution fluorescent microscope, medical scientists are a step closer to understanding why and how human immune cells decide to activate or not, thus enabling or preventing disease taking hold in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-super-resolution-microscope-human-t-cells-life.html Immunology Mon, 03 Dec 2012 07:31:30 EST news273742283 (Medical Xpress)—A newly discovered gene that is essential for embryo survival could also hold the key to treating and potentially controlling chronic infections such as HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-survival-gene-key-hiv-hepatitis.html Immunology Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:18:48 EST news273143921 The researcher Capucine Picard, working with the team from Inserm unit 980 "Human genetics and infections diseases"/Université Paris Descartes under the leadership of Jean-Laurent Casanova, along with researchers from a CNRS/Institut Pasteur laboratory headed by Alain Israël have succeeded in identifying the part played by the HOIL1 gene in cases of paradoxal association of an immune deficiency with a chronic autoinflammatory deficiency and a muscular deficiency in 3 children from 2 different families. This study once more highlights the importance of genetics in the body's response to infectious agents. These works were published on line in the review Nature Immunology, of 28.10.12. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hoil1-gene-rare-disease.html Immunology Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:00:04 EST news270985361 Hiding deep inside the bone marrow are special cells. They wait patiently for the hour of need, at which point these blood forming stem cells can proliferate and differentiate into billions of mature blood immune cells to help the body cope with infection, for example, or extra red blood cells for low oxygen levels at high altitudes. Even in emergencies, however, the body keeps to a long-term plan: It maintains a reserve of undifferentiated stem cells for future needs and crises. A research team headed by Prof. Tsvee Lapidot of the Institute's immunology Department recently discovered a new type of bodyguard that protects stem cells from over-differentiation. In a paper that appeared in Nature Immunology, they revealed how this rare, previously unknown sub-group of activated immune cells keeps the stem cells in the bone marrow "forever young." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-insights-rare-immune-cells-blood.html Immunology Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:11:21 EST news270123048 UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-link-stem-cells-immune.html Immunology Sun, 02 Sep 2012 13:00:23 EST news265786489 Vaccines and antibiotics may someday join caloric restriction or bariatric surgery as a way to regulate weight gain, according to a new study focused on the interactions between diet, the bacteria that live in the bowel, and the immune system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-microbiome-weight.html Immunology Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:00:14 EST news265186509 (Medical Xpress) -- When the body makes immune T cells, it relies on a molecular channel more commonly seen in nerves and heart muscles to ensure that the powerful T cells have the right mixture of aggressiveness and restraint, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-immune-heart-channel-powerful-defenders.html Immunology Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:11:43 EST news264359488 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the molecular signal that triggers the development of immune cells that patrol the skin and brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-key-immune-cells-defend-skin.html Immunology Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:41:32 EST news263792485 A UNC-led team of scientists describes the function of a previously uncharacterized protein that dramatically influences inflammation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-unc-team-inflammatory-protein-function.html Immunology Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:06:34 EST news263469984 A research team led by Xian Chang Li, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Transplantation Research Center, has shed light on how a population of lymphocytes, called CD4+ T cells, mature into various subsets of adult T helper cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cell-receptor-proclivity-helper-cells.html Immunology Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:00:01 EST news262779741 White blood cells called neutrophils, which are the first line of defense against infection, play an unexpected role by boosting antibody production, according to research led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The findings suggest neutrophils have multiple roles within the immune system and function at levels previously unknown to the scientific community. The research, published in Nature Immunology, provides groundbreaking insight into possible new approaches in vaccine development for blood-borne infections and HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-vaccine-abundant-immune-cells.html Immunology Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:31:20 EST news262366216 A transcription factor called Lyl-1 is necessary for production of the earliest cells that can become T-cells, critical cells born in the thymus that coordinate the immune response to cancer or infections, said a consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the journal Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-transcription-factor-lyl-critical-early.html Immunology Sun, 08 Jul 2012 13:00:17 EST news260950794 Researchers from Aarhus University have now located the place in the human body where the earliest virus alert signal triggers the human immune system. They have also discovered a new alarm signal, which is activated at the very first sign of a virus attack. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-danish-scientists-immune.html Immunology Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:12:15 EST news259578717 Scientists have found a master regulator gene needed for the development of M cells, a mysterious type of intestinal cell involved in initiating immune responses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-gene-conveyor-belt-cells-oral.html Immunology Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:00:02 EST news259148658 (Medical Xpress) -- Newfound details of the immune system suggest a role for never-before-considered drug classes in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune diseases, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published online today in Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-shift-lupus-asthma.html Immunology Tue, 29 May 2012 09:14:41 EST news257501620 (Medical Xpress) -- New research from Queen Mary, University of London in collaboration with research groups in the USA sheds light on why gum disease can become more common with old age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-hints-gums-age.html Immunology Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:30:03 EST news253873591 A collaboration between scientists in Trinity College Dublin and the United Kingdom has identified new processes that lead to the development of a novel cell implicated in allergies. The discovery has the potential for new strategies to treat asthma and other allergic diseases. The research findings have just been published in the leading international journal Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-scientists-collaborate-discovery-treatment-asthma.html Immunology Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:27:03 EST news249560815 A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online in Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-starve-virus-cells-hiv.html Medical research Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:00:08 EST news248266238 When disease-causing invaders like bacteria infect a human host, cells of various types swing into action, coordinating their activities to address the threat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-secrets-immune-response-illuminated.html Immunology Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:46:15 EST news248013966 University of British Columbia researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables receptors inside immune cells to find, and flag, fragments of pathogens trying to invade a host. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-key-immune-cell-internal-guidance.html Immunology Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:00:17 EST news247668580 A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers identified a new culprit that leads to atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fat and cholesterol that hardens into plaque and narrows arteries. The research, published online by Nature Immunology on January 8, 2012, explains why cholesterol-laden, coronary artery disease-causing cells called macrophages, accumulate in artery plaques. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-culprit-atherosclerosis.html Cardiology Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:29:37 EST news245323764