News tagged with immune cells

Australian study turns HIV against itself (Update)

An Australian scientist said Wednesday he had discovered a way to turn the HIV virus against itself in human cells in the laboratory, in an important advance in the quest for an AIDS cure.

HIV & AIDS created Jan 16, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 22

Excess dietary salt identified as autoimmune trigger

For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical ...

Medical research created Mar 06, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (16) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Immune systems of healthy adults 'remember' germs to which they've never been exposed

It's established dogma that the immune system develops a "memory" of a microbial pathogen, with a correspondingly enhanced readiness to combat that microbe, only upon exposure to it—or to its components though a vaccine. ...

Immunology created Feb 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (13) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Team finds antibody that transforms bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells

In a serendipitous discovery, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells.

Medical research created Apr 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Scientists find underlying mechanisms behind chronic inflammation-associated diseases

(Medical Xpress)—Inflammatory response plays a major role in both health protection and disease generation. While the symptoms of disease-related inflammatory response have been know, scientists have not ...

Inflammatory disorders created Feb 23, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Engineered T cells kill tumors but spare normal tissue in an animal model

The need to distinguish between normal cells and tumor cells is a feature that has been long sought for most types of cancer drugs. Tumor antigens, unique proteins on the surface of a tumor, are potential targets for a normal ...

Cancer created Apr 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New immune cells hint at eczema cause

(Medical Xpress)—University of Sydney researchers have discovered a new type of immune cell in skin that plays a role in fighting off parasitic invaders such as ticks, mites, and worms, and could be linked to eczema and ...

Immunology created Apr 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Genes and their regulatory 'tags' conspire to promote rheumatoid arthritis, study finds

In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic ...

Genetics created Jan 20, 2013 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research opens up possibility of therapies to restore blood-brain barrier

(Medical Xpress)—Research led by Queen Mary, University of London, has opened up the possibility that drug therapies may one day be able to restore the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, potentially ...

Medical research created Jan 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study finds how to shutdown cancer's powerful master protein

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 ...

Immunology created Mar 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene discovery reveals importance of eating your greens

(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 ...

Immunology created Mar 04, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The brakes of inflammation

In the last few decades, sci­en­tists have come to attribute an immuno­log­ical expla­na­tion to many can­cers. It is now thought that tumors rise up rou­tinely in the body but that a healthy immune ...

Immunology created Feb 27, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 2

Researchers show how cells' DNA repair machinery can destroy viruses

A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection. The system's two vital components are high levels of a molecule that ...

Medical research created Jan 21, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Autoimmune disease—retraining white blood cells

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.

Immunology created Dec 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immune system molecule with hidden talents

Dendritic cells, or DCs for short, perform a vital role for the immune system: They engulf pathogens, break them down into their component parts, and then display the pieces on their surface. This in turn ...

Immunology created Jan 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

White blood cell

White blood cells (WBCs), or leukocytes (also spelled "leucocytes"), are cells of the immune system defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, but they are all produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a hematopoietic stem cell. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system.

The number of leukocytes in the blood is often an indicator of disease. There are normally between 4×109 and 1.1×1010 white blood cells in a litre of blood, making up approximately 1% of blood in a healthy adult. An increase in the number of leukocytes over the upper limits is called leukocytosis, and in leukopenia, this number is much lower than the lower limit. The physical properties of leukocytes, such as volume, conductivity, and granularity, may change due to activation, the presence of immature cells, or the presence of malignant leukocytes in leukemia.

For more information about White blood cell, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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