https://medicalxpress.com/immunology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Allergy and immunology Microbiology researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have discovered why patients with the autoimmune disease lupus are susceptible to serious bacterial infections. Their new study published in Cell Press Blue shows that lupus-associated inflammatory signals can reprogram white blood cells, rendering them less effective against Staphylococcus aureus infection. Instead of producing the most protective antibacterial response, these neutrophils shift toward a less effective form of neutrophil extracellular trap (NET). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-lupus-linked-immune-misdirection-patients.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:40:03 EDT news704980201 Beyond the nucleus, no other organelle in eukaryotic cells captures the public's imagination quite like mitochondria: They are the engines of cellular energy production; they possess their own DNA, and they are passed from generation to generation from mothers to offspring. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mighty-mitochondria-scientists-uncover-role.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 07:20:06 EDT news704625145 A "leaky gut" might increase the severity of food allergies, according to new research conducted in mice and published in The Journal of Immunology. The researchers found that changes to the gut microbiome in mice were linked to increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and increased food allergy severity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-leaky-gut-food-allergies-worse.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:10:01 EDT news704549762 The amino acid arginine helps keep the human body humming, most notably by synthesizing proteins that carry out a range of cellular processes. It's produced by our bodies and found in common high-protein foods. Low levels of arginine are associated with a number of diseases, including colon cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-amino-acid-body-tumors-viral.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 18:20:07 EDT news704649121 Cleveland Clinic and IBM researchers are using quantum computing to tackle one of the most challenging problems in immuno-oncology: predicting which tumor mutations will trigger an immune response. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-quantum-machine-framework-neoantigen-immune.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news704643361 A scientific collaboration between the University of Bath (UK) and the UMass Chan Medical School (U.S.) has determined how a specific type of white blood cell—neutrophils—moves through the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immune-discovery-treatments-chronic-inflammation.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:40:06 EDT news704634196 New Northwestern Medicine research published in Nature Communications suggests that a metabolite produced by gut bacteria when they digest dietary fiber can leave a lasting molecular imprint on intestinal cells, promoting immune tolerance and protecting against inflammatory bowel disease-like conditions long after exposure ends. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-bacteria-intestinal-memory-inflammation.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:20:09 EDT news704540106 The composition of donor cord blood may play a critical role in the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapies. A small population of immature NK cells present in donor cord blood can undermine the activity of CAR NK cell therapy by redirecting potent immune cells away from tumors and causing them to attack one another, according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-donor-cord-blood-composition-car.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:09 EDT news704535361 An overactive immune response in the brain may play a role in Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe genetic epilepsy that typically begins in infancy, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. Children with the condition experience frequent seizures that are often difficult to control with medication and may also face developmental, cognitive and behavioral challenges. Until now, most research has focused on how a mutation in the SCN1A gene disrupts electrical signaling in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-inflammation-dravet-syndrome-potential-treatment.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:00:07 EDT news704533501 Children who grow up in a farm environment are less prone to allergies, asthma and hay fever than their classmates. This so-called farm effect has been identified in several observational studies worldwide. It is most likely attributable to the fact that various bacteria present in barn air prevent excessive inflammatory responses of the immune system that are characteristic of such diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-bacteria-trigger-farm-effect-children.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:00:03 EDT news704469301 Scientists at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), have found a potential path to maintaining the cancer-fighting benefits of one type of immunotherapy while limiting harmful organ damage, providing new hope for this promising treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blocking-key-receptor-curb-immunotherapy.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:00:08 EDT news704460061 New research led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and the University of Liverpool (UOL) provides the first comprehensive look at how a hidden immune cell army defends the vast, vulnerable tissue of human lungs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immunity-tissue-resident-immune-cells.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:40:07 EDT news704458169 Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven, together with international collaborators, have discovered that blocking autophagy—the body's natural recycling system for worn-out cell components—in specialized blood vessels can reduce inflammation in mice with psoriasis. Unlike many current therapies, this strategy reduces inflammation without weakening the immune system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-body-natural-recycling-inflammation.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:20:08 EDT news704456941 In a discovery that could redefine the future of cancer immunotherapy, scientists from Celloram Inc., University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University have developed a novel cancer vaccine platform that transforms the impact of the largest immunological event in modern history—a synchronized mass immune memory generated through SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination—into a powerful ally against cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-covid-immune-memory-powerful-ally.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:20:02 EDT news704389141 Researchers at the University of Vermont's Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine and Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, have discovered that dengue virus can infect and replicate inside memory B cells, immune cells traditionally understood to help protect the body from infection. The findings, published July 20 in the Journal of Virology, reveal a previously unrecognized way the virus may evade immune defenses and point toward new strategies for treating a disease that threatens 40% of the world's population, including parts of the southern United States. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dengue-virus-infect-immune-cells.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:00:48 EDT news704388361 About a third of children with multiple food allergies gained the ability to safely eat full servings of foods that trigger their allergies in a new Stanford Medicine-led clinical trial. The results were published in JAMA Pediatrics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-omalizumab-children-multiple-food-allergies.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:00:12 EDT news704105188 Every encounter between a T cell and a potential target—especially when that target is a developing tumor—begins with a rapid series of molecular decisions. Within seconds, the immune cell must determine whether to launch an attack or stand down. T cells are so potent, so potentially devastating, that misreading the situation can cause serious tissue injury. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-decipher-cells-enemies-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:00:51 EDT news704107608 Scientists have long sought to understand why some people with no known risk factors develop cancer while others with significant risk never do. The answer may lie in immune proteins known as autoantibodies (auto-Abs), suggests a commentary published in Cell co-authored by a team that includes Jean-Laurent Casanova, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense and Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-autoantibodies-cancer-growth-response-immunotherapy.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:00:03 EDT news704030192 Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, which reprograms an individual's immune cells to seek out and destroy certain cancer cells, has revolutionized treatment for blood cancers such as lymphoma. But in some patients, the treatment can cause serious side effects. New research led by investigators at the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that patients' inherited genetic makeup can influence whether they benefit from CAR-T cell therapy or experience toxicity from the treatment. The results are published in Science Immunology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-inherited-gene-variants-car-therapy.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news704024041 The plague has killed more people than World War II. The bacterium Yersinia pestis (Yp), which causes plague, has triggered three major pandemics throughout history, leaving behind a casualty toll of more than 200 million people. Although the plague no longer causes pandemics on the scale seen in history, it still occurs in many parts of the world today. Vaccination remains our best defense against the disease, but approved options remain scarce. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-experimental-plague-vaccine-strategy-mice.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:00:11 EDT news704105200 A major pillar of cancer immunotherapy involves stimulating T cells, the specialized killers of the immune system, to attack tumors. But this strategy has been undermined by the tendency of T cells to tire out before finishing the job. When the cells reach a fatigued stage—called T cell exhaustion—they lose the ability to sustain the attack and keep cancer growth under control. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-strategy-cell-exhaustion-boost-immunotherapy.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:40:01 EDT news704038561 A new study indicates that the immune cell landscape of the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory, rapidly undergoes substantial remodeling beginning in midlife. This previously unrecognized shift suggests a potential mechanism by which aging may contribute to chronic neuroinflammation commonly observed in neurodegenerative disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-immunity-major-midlife-overhaul.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:20:03 EDT news704034361 Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys melanocytes, the cells that produce the skin pigment melanin. Once the melanocytes are gone, the skin turns white, leading to the characteristic skin patches of the disease. However, the standard model of vitiligo doesn't explain some of its unusual features. Some vitiligo lesions repigment, and treatments sometimes restore pigmentation even in areas that lack melanocytes, suggesting that the melanocytes may not be fully destroyed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dormant-pigment-cells-vitiligo-patches.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news704031481 The immune system plays a critical role in protecting the body from cancer by recognizing and eliminating abnormal cells before they can develop into tumors. This process relies on T cells that can recognize tumor-derived antigens presented by dendritic cells (DCs). However, tumor cells frequently evade immune surveillance and establish immune tolerance through various mechanisms, most of which are thought to occur within the tumor microenvironment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immune-hijacked-tumor.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 14:00:15 EDT news704018341 An ancient molecule that existed long before the circulatory system evolved has been found to support cancer immunotherapy. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan found that complement C3 protein acts inside tumors to prevent the accumulation of immunosuppressive cells, but only when produced inside the tumor. C3 circulating in the blood did not affect treatment outcomes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ancient-molecule-tumors-immune-response.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:20:02 EDT news704022241 Off-the-shelf and mass-producible immune cells fight solid human tumors engrafted in mice. The Kobe University development is a significant contribution toward faster, cheaper cancer immunotherapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mass-immune-cells-patient-derived.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:06 EDT news703926061 Scientists at The Wistar Institute have identified a new mechanism behind the chemotherapy resistance that makes ovarian cancer so lethal. In a new study published in The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, the researchers show that chemotherapy triggers an inflammatory cascade that recruits immune cells into the tumor microenvironment, which ultimately function to protect the cancer from subsequent chemotherapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immune-mechanism-ovarian-cancer-chemotherapy.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:20:05 EDT news704020261 B-cell depletion therapies, in which B cells of the immune system that may drive disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) are temporarily removed, have contributed significantly to improved treatment for patients in recent years. Researchers from the University Hospital of Bonn (UKB), the Universities of Bonn, Basel, Toronto and Yale, along with their collaborators, have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism through which B-cell depletion therapies contribute to a better disease course in patients with MS. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-immune-cells-cell-depletion.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:20:04 EDT news703951495 Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified immune system changes that can be detected up to 10 years before inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) develops, offering new insight into how the disease begins. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immune-emerge-years-inflammatory-bowel.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:40:07 EDT news703946221 Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting more than 60 million people worldwide, characterized by painful red patches, scaling and skin thickening. While existing biologic treatments largely focus on calming hyperactive T cells in the skin, complete disease resolution remains challenging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-skin-bone-marrow-axis-discovery.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:00:04 EDT news703941362