http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Genetic abnormalities accrued by tumor cells lead to inappropriate production of proteins at the wrong time or place, or even the synthesis of unusual hybrid proteins not found in normal cells. Such abnormalities can serve as 'red flags' that alert the immune system that something has gone awry, triggering proliferation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that can recognize and destroy defective cells based on these protein signatures.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-reprogrammed-immune-cells-doctors-edge.html Cancer Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:50:02 EST news281348556 Researchers from the RIKEN Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology in Japan report today that they have succeeded for the first time in creating cancer-specific, immune system cells called killer T lymphocytes, from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). To create these killer cells, the team first had to reprogram T lymphocytes specialized in killing a certain type of cancer, into iPS cells. The iPS cells then generated fully active, cancer-specific T lymphocytes. These lymphocytes regenerated from iPS cells could potentially serve as cancer therapy in the future. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-japanese-team-cancer-specific-killer-cells.html Medical research Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:42:59 EST news276439356 (Medical Xpress)—New research demonstrates that the cellular metabolism of certain immune cells is closely linked to their function, which includes protecting against viral infections and the development of tumours. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cellular-metabolism-arms-cells-viruses.html Medical research Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:28:11 EST news275578081 By analyzing tissues harvested from organ donors, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first ever "atlas" of immune cells in the human body. Their results provide a unique view of the distribution and function of T lymphocytes in healthy individuals. In addition, the findings represent a major step toward development of new strategies for creating vaccines and immunotherapies. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Immunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-atlas-cells-human-body.html Immunology Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:00:04 EST news275224643 Julien Diana and Yannick Simoni of the "Immune Mechanisms in Type 1 Diabetes," Inserm/Université Paris Descartes, directed by Agnès Lehuen, have just published the results of their work on type 1 diabetes in the Nature Medicine journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-role-innate-immune-cells-diabetes.html Diabetes Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:42:08 EST news275139717 Symptoms of an autoimmune disease disappeared after a team of scientists retrained the white blood cells. This method is extremely promising for treating diseases such as type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-autoimmune-diseaseretraining-white-blood-cells.html Immunology Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:00:13 EST news274961600 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 Targeted T-cells can seek out and destroy tumor cells that carry specific antigen markers. Two novel anti-tumor therapies that take advantage of this T-cell response are described in articles published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The articles are available free on the Human Gene Therapy website. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-anti-tumor-cell-therapy-strategies-effective.html Cancer Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:04:18 EST news270388959 Our immune system must be tremendously complex to respond to the unending assault of viruses, bacteria and cancerous cells. One of the mechanisms used by the immune system to cope with the huge variety of possible threats is to randomly combine DNA segments for the production of receptors on lymphocytes – a type of white blood cell. The number of possible receptors that can be produced in this way is about 1000 times the number of stars in our galaxy – one followed by 15 zeroes. And yet, the actual array of receptors produced does not conform to this picture of random chance: Some receptors are produced at a higher rate than others. New research at the Weizmann Institute can help explain how the immune system maintains its complexity while giving preference to certain receptors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-immune-cells-flexible-choices.html Immunology Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:07:56 EST news270122867 (Medical Xpress)—Until recently, medical researchers had little hope of experimentally manipulating naïve T cells to study their crucial roles in immune function, because they were largely impenetrable, says polymer scientist Gregory Tew: "So far off limits we could not readily get inside to investigate their workings." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scores-advance-t-cells.html Medical research Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:47:45 EST news269178411 A research team led by investigators at New York University and NYU School of Medicine has determined how cells that cause inflammatory ailments, such as Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis, differentiate from stem cells and ultimately affect the clinical outcome of these diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-inflammatory-cells-function-stage-future.html Inflammatory disorders Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:24:34 EST news267884658 (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) -- Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principal that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of UCLA researchers have now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-stem-cells-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:00:01 EST news253444610 Scientists may have discovered a new paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer by priming antibodies and T cells with cancer stem cells, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cancer-stem-cell-vaccine-antitumor.html Cancer Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:50:01 EST news252560217 The thymus plays a key role in the body's immune response. It is here where the T lymphocytes or T cells, a major type of immune defence cells, mature. Different types of T cells, designated to perform specific tasks, arise from progenitor cells that migrate to the thymus from the bone marrow. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have generated artificial thymus tissue in a mouse embryo to enable the maturation of immune cells. In this process, they discovered which signalling molecules control the maturation of T cells. Their results represent the first step towards the production of artificial thymus glands that could be used to replace or augment the damaged organ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-artificial-thymus-tissue-enables-maturation.html Immunology Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:00:07 EST news252239826 Cold and flu symptoms have a significant impact on our economy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-aged-garlic-ease-cold-symptoms.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:00:02 EST news250772280 A new study provides evidence that a critical type of immune cell can develop in human tonsils. The cells, called T lymphocytes, or T cells, have been thought to develop only in the thymus, an organ of the immune system that sits on the heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-tonsils-cells.html Medical research Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:46:07 EST news250188341 Breast cancer represents about a fifth of all cancers diagnosed in women. The reasons for the rapid progression of the disease remain relatively poorly understood but recent work in the group of Veronika Sexl at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has pointed the finger strongly at loss or inactivation of the transcription factor STAT1. The results are published in the current issue of the journal Oncotarget. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-two-pronged-loss-stat1-bad-news.html Cancer Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:10:13 EST news249729003 Immune cells capable of attacking healthy organs "see" their targets differently than do protective immune cells that attack viruses, according to work published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-autoreactive-cells.html Medical research Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:00:07 EST news247751918 A new treatment using leukemia patients' own infection-fighting cells appears to protect them from infections and cancer recurrence following treatment with fludarabine-based chemotherapy, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The new process is a step toward eliminating the harsh side effects that result from the commonly prescribed drug, which improves progression-free survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) but destroys patients' healthy immune cells in the process, leaving them vulnerable to serious viral and bacterial infections. The drug's effects on the immune system tend to be so violent that it has been dubbed "AIDS in a bottle." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-immune-leukemia-patients-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:59:37 EST news242884769 Dendritic cells, discovered in 1973 by Ralph Steinman (2011 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine) and known for their role as sentinels of the immune system, have an essential function in the development of high endothelial venules (HEVs), acting as genuine entry sites of lymphocytes into lymph nodes, inflamed tissues and malignant tumors. This is what Christine Moussion and Jean-Philippe Girard, researchers at the Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (CNRS/France) showed in a study published online in the journal Nature on November 13, 2011. A better understanding of this process could lead to major applications in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-dendritic-cells-lymphocyte-entry-lymph.html Medical research Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:28:06 EST news240740873 Most of the time, the immune system is the body's protector, warding off invading viruses and bacteria before they can lead to infection and disease. But in autoimmune diseases, the immune system does an about face, turning on the body and attacking normal cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-previously-unknown-cell-interaction-key.html Medical research Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:00:08 EST news236778484 (Medical Xpress) -- Investigators have identified a new class of human immune cells that behave like stem cells. These cells, a subtype of T lymphocytes, which comprise a small fraction of white blood cells, may prove more effective than any previously reported type of T cell for treating tumors. The study, by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institute of Health, describes how these stem cell-like T cells can trigger a prolonged immune attack against tumor cells by continuously generating killer T cells and regenerating themselves. The findings were published online Sept. 18, 2011, in Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-approach-prolong-immune-tumor.html Cancer Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:33:46 EST news235809166 New research led by Derya Unutmaz, MD associate professor, the Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine and Mark Sundrud, PhD, of Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has identified a novel sensory pathway that modulates the potency of Th17 cell responses. The new research is highlighted in the August 8th online edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The study has found that when memory Th17 cells are exposed to a class of secreted proteins called gamma-c cytokines (IL-2, IL-15 or IL-7), they become armed to release their potent immune mediators, which are also a family of cytokines (such as IL-17 and IL-22). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mechanism-pro-inflammatory-cells.html Medical research Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:37:04 EST news232202165 After eight years of work, researchers have unearthed what has been a well-kept secret of our immune system's success. The findings published online on June 9th in Immunity offer an explanation for how specialized immune cells are able to kill infected or cancerous cells without killing themselves in the process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-killer-immune-cells.html Medical research Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:02:57 EST news226846959