Zika virus can cause immune and brain abnormalities in asymptomatic pig offspring

Zika virus infection in the womb produces altered immune responses and sex-specific brain abnormalities in apparently healthy pig offspring, according to a study published november 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Uladzimir Karniychuk of the University of Saskatchewan, and colleagues. As noted by the authors, the findings could point to new strategies to prevent and alleviate the long-term […]

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Rapid spread of a meningitis bacteria linked to hypermutable sequences helping avoidance of the immune system

An enhanced potential to avoid the human immune system has been found in recent serogroup W isolates of Neisseria meningitidis by University of Leicester researchers, which may explain in part why the strain spread so rapidly among young people in 2013. The study, published last week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, saw researchers from Leicester, the University of Nottingham […]

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Childhood leukemia cannot hide from the immune system

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have evidence that children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia mount a robust immune response to their cancer. The findings, which appear today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, will likely aid development of immunotherapy for the most common childhood cancer. Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment in the last decade, particularly for adults with melanoma, lung […]

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Interaction between immune factors triggers cancer-promoting chronic inflammation

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has identified interaction between two elements of the immune system as critical for the transformation of a protective immune response into chronic, cancer-promoting inflammation. In their report published in PNAS, the investigators demonstrate that elevated levels of the immune factor IL-33 and regulatory T cells (Tregs), which suppress the action of tumor-fighting immune […]

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Interaction between two immune cell types could be key to better dengue vaccines, study shows

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School have demonstrated for the first time a physical interaction between two types of immune cells that plays an important role in the early fight against dengue virus infection. Dengue virus is widespread in the tropics and is transmitted by mosquitos. Dengue virus infection incidence has grown dramatically in recent years, with estimates suggesting 390 million […]

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Engineered immune cells target broad range of pediatric solid tumors in mice

Immune cells engineered to attack childhood cancers were able to eradicate different types of pediatric tumors in mice, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study, which will be published online Jan. 17 in Clinical Cancer Research, provides evidence that these engineered cells can target many types of pediatric solid tumors, including brain tumors. […]

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