https://medicalxpress.com/immunology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Allergy and immunology Outfitting cells in "invisibility cloaks" may offer an easier, less damaging treatment pathway for people with diabetes undergoing cell therapy, according to researchers at Penn State. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cell-invisibility-cloaks-side-effect.html Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:00:02 EDT news705833941 Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that helps cancer cells evade detection by the body's immune system. The finding could pave the way for the development of more effective cancer immunotherapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-scientists-uncover-hidden-cancer-cells.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:00:02 EDT news705849242 Antibodies are an important defense against SARS-CoV-2, but the virus continues to evolve ways to evade them. Now, researchers have mapped how antibodies target a key region of the virus's spike protein, how they neutralize the virus and how emerging variants escape them. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-spike-sars-cov-variants-dodge.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news705839259 For patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, the immunotherapy known as CAR-T cell therapy can be lifesaving. Doctors remove a patient's immune cells, called T cells, engineer them in the lab to better recognize and attack cancer, and infuse them back into the bloodstream. But for solid tumors—which include lung, pancreatic, ovarian, colon, breast and other cancer types—these engineered immune cells still face too much resistance to effectively treat the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-vivo-crispr-screen-gene-car.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news705772141 Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine of USC have engineered a genetic tool that addresses one of the most persistent obstacles in cancer immunotherapy: the physical softness of tumors. The work, detailed in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, reveals how the soft environment of a tumor enables cancer cells to become "stealthy" and resistant to treatment, providing a mechanism to tag those evasive cells for destruction. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-tumor-soft-power-immunotherapy.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:20:01 EDT news705765601 Coronary artery disease, which is caused by plaque buildup in the arteries that supply blood to the heart, can appear stable for long periods without causing any symptoms. But the disease can become unstable at any time and cause a heart attack. Following a heart attack, low-grade inflammation can persist in the body for several months or even years. A large body of research suggests that this prolonged inflammation increases the risk of another heart attack. More than 20,000 people in Sweden suffer a heart attack every year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-dysregulated-immune-cells-silent-inflammation.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:40:04 EDT news705763681 A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shown that inflammatory arthritis occurring as a side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors behaves like an immune-memory disease, suggesting that certain immune cell populations could serve as biomarkers or targets for therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-scientists-uncover-drivers-recurrent-arthritis.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:20:07 EDT news705747303 Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system reacts to gluten. More than 1% of the population in Germany is affected. In these individuals, gluten proteins found in wheat, rye and barley trigger inflammation in the small intestine, which can damage the intestinal villi and promote disease outside the intestinal tract. Despite following a gluten-free diet, up to 30% of patients with celiac disease still experience symptoms. This is usually due to unavoidable gluten contamination in their daily diet. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-humanized-mouse-significantly-preclinical-drugs.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:00:01 EDT news705747157 Every day, billions of cells in our body die and are removed as part of normal tissue maintenance. This continuous cleanup process is essential for keeping the immune system in balance and preventing harmful immune reactions against healthy tissues. Researchers at VIB and Ghent University have now discovered that a protein best known for sensing cellular stress also acts as a cholesterol sensor in specialized immune cells. Their findings reveal how these cells safely process dying cells and maintain immune homeostasis. The work appears in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-immune-cells-cholesterol-sensor.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:20:06 EDT news705683282 Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, in collaboration with investigators at the University of Chicago, have developed a new computational framework that helps scientists identify genes that play central roles in diseases such as asthma but are often overlooked by existing genetic analysis methods. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-framework-pathway-asthma-inflammation.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:00:03 EDT news705677762 New research led by the Hudson Institute of Medical Research has shown how a cell recognizes that it is infected with a virus to protect itself and surrounding cells or induce inflammation. The discovery, published in Nature Immunology and led by Dr. Natália Sampaio, turns our understanding of how inflammation begins at a cellular level on its head. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cells-abnormal-rna-trigger-inflammation.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:40:01 EDT news705667201 Immunosuppressive medications help prevent organ rejection following transplantation, yet some patients still experience rejection despite receiving adequate treatment. New research from Yale, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, identifies a potential genetic mechanism underlying the increased risk in some patients of recent African ancestry, revealing changes in immune cell signaling that may contribute to kidney transplant rejection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-genetic-variants-kidney-transplant.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:20:07 EDT news705665881 In a first-of-its-kind study by King's College London, researchers have linked changes in two major types of immune cells in blood to different survival outcomes for patients with melanoma. Melanoma, the fifth most common cancer in the U.K., is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer but is highly treatable when caught early. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-differences-immune-cells-skin-cancer.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:20:05 EDT news705654122 Researchers at National Jewish Health and partner institutions have discovered specific changes in immune cells in the lungs of people with sarcoidosis. Their findings help explain how this inflammatory disease develops and could support the development of new treatments in the future. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-reveal-insights-immune-cell-sarcoidosis.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:20:01 EDT news705641281 The brain's immune cells are increasingly recognized as key players in Alzheimer's disease, but exactly how they change as the disease develops has remained unclear. A new study published in Nature Genetics provides the most comprehensive map to date of these cells, identifying a protective subtype of brain immune cells that expands as Alzheimer's disease progresses and uncovering the molecular pathway that enables these cells to help defend the brain. The findings offer new insights that could inform future Alzheimer's therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-immune-cell-defenses-shift.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:00:01 EDT news705591601 HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system and remains a major global health challenge because of persistent viral reservoirs, despite effective treatments. Key factors include around 40 million people living with HIV, 1 million new infections each year and permanent viral DNA integration into host cells. Some HIV proviruses hide quietly in cells and escape both medicines and the immune system, creating a permanent viral reservoir that prevents patients from being cured. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-hiv-proviruses-chronic-inflammation.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:40:08 EDT news705587822 A team led by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the HI-STEM Stem Cell Institute, and Medical Clinic V at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) has characterized T cells in the bone marrow of patients with multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia. The work has been published in Cancer Cell. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-analysis-bone-marrow-cancer-cells.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:00:06 EDT news705587282 Europe is in the grip of yet another deadly heat wave. Over 10,000 excess deaths were recorded during late June 2026 alone—and the toll keeps climbing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-heatstroke-deadly-body-cools.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:00:03 EDT news705572462 Three research teams working independently around the world have landed on the same discovery: A single molecular "handshake" inside our cells controls a family of inflammatory diseases, including one of the most common inherited fevers on Earth. The finding solved a decades-old puzzle for one family and led to a treatment that worked almost immediately. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mysterious-inflammatory-fever-bigger-story.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:20:08 EDT news705575762 A new study that explores gene expression during heart transplant rejection marks a step forward for precision medicine approaches to treat organ rejection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-molecular-reveals-hidden-cellular-heart.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 05:00:01 EDT news705321148 Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease in which the body's own immune system overreacts to minimal or inappropriate stimuli, producing recurrent attacks of fever and painful inflammation. The disease is caused by mutations in MEFV, the gene that encodes a protein called pyrin. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-body-inflammatory-alarm-misfires-familial.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:00:03 EDT news705236821 Early respiratory infection burden is associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) diagnosis in childhood, according to a study published online July 29 in JAMA Dermatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-early-respiratory-infections-linked-atopic.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:07 EDT news705322095 An international study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has identified interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers as a promising option for preventing relapses in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). MOGAD is a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that can cause vision loss, paralysis and other serious neurological complications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-therapy-relapses-rare-neurological-disease.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news705299941 The human body experiences allergic reactions when the immune system mistakenly overreacts to harmless substances, known as allergens, such as pollen, dust or certain foods. While this often causes mild symptoms such as sneezing or a runny nose, it can sometimes trigger a severe, life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-critical-immune-pathway-skin-allergies.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:20:04 EDT news705250981 Since its discovery in Japan in 2009, a deadly fungus has emerged in hospitals around the world. The pathogen, known as Candida auris, lives silently on the skin. But it can be deadly if it reaches the bloodstream, killing about 3,000 patients in hospitals and long-term care facilities a year in the U.S. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-deadly-candida-auris-hair-follicles.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:00:20 EDT news705159661 The brain's immune system has long been thought to exist independently from the rest of the body, complete with its own specialized immune cells and a blood-brain barrier that limits what can travel into the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-discovery-reveals-aging-human-brains.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:00:06 EDT news705238022 About 2 meters (6.6 feet) of genetic material must fit into the nucleus of each of most of our trillions of cells, coiling and winding to form what looks like a tangled mess. But when genes are used, how they are used and how often they are used are completely intertwined with that mess. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-tonsil-genetic-spaghetti-yields-insights.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:20:01 EDT news705226382 Six years after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are still uncovering surprising ways the virus can wreak havoc on the body. A new UCLA study published in Science Advances describes a previously unrecognized way the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein—a structural protein less familiar than the spike protein that has dominated public attention and much vaccine research—can push the immune system into dangerous overdrive. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-lesser-sars-cov-protein-clues.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news705168541 Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that immunosuppressed patients with non-melanoma skin cancer are not missing the key cancer-fighting immune cells found in immunocompetent patients, but those cells—known as macrophages—have lost the ability to communicate effectively. This new understanding may help researchers develop treatment approaches for these aggressive skin cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-immune-cell-dysfunction-absence-skin.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news705163321 Liver metastases are among the most common and deadly forms of cancer spread. Now, researchers at VIB and KU Leuven, with international collaborators, have discovered how cancer cells exploit a fatty acid abundant in the liver to evade destruction by the immune system. By disrupting this process, the researchers restored the cancer-fighting activity of immune cells called neutrophils and reduced metastatic growth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cancer-cells-hijack-fatty-acid.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news705160681