http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Molecules of sugar sitting on the surface of cancer cells are keys to the development of a new vaccine aimed at both treating and stopping the spread of certain types of cancers called carcinomas, which include prostate, breast, ovarian and lung, among others. Armed with a new two-year grant for $600,000 from the Gateway for Cancer Research, an Illinois-based philanthropic foundation, immunologist Alessandra Franco, M.D., Ph.D., and her co-workers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego are hoping to develop a low-cost immunotherapy for prostate carcinoma that may also have use against a variety of other carcinomas as well. http://www.physorg.com/news150657878.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:24:38 EST news150657878 Masses of immune cells that form as a hallmark of tuberculosis (TB) have long been thought to be the body's way of trying to protect itself by literally walling off the bacteria. But a new study in the January 9th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers evidence that the TB bacteria actually sends signals that encourage the growth of those organized granuloma structures, and for good reason: each granuloma serves as a kind of hub for the infectious bugs in the early stages of infection, allowing them to expand further and spread throughout the body. http://www.physorg.com/news150643255.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:20:55 EST news150643255 A research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a protein produced by cancerous lung epithelial cells that enhances metastasis by stimulating the activity of inflammatory cells. Their findings, to be published in the January 1 issue of the journal Nature, explain how advanced cancer cells usurp components of the host innate immune system to generate an inflammatory microenvironment hospitable for the metastatic spread of lung cancer. The discovery could lead to a therapy to limit metastasis of this most common lethal form of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news149951977.html Medicine & Health Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:19:37 EST news149951977 A biological tit for tat may hold clues to improving the success of islet cell transplants intended to cure type 1 diabetes, according to a Medical College of Georgia scientist. http://www.physorg.com/news148753181.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:19:41 EST news148753181 New Rochelle, NY, December 16, 2008 -Once believed to be important only for bone health, vitamin D is now seen as having a critical function in maintaining the immune system throughout life. The newly recognized disease risks associated with vitamin D deficiency are clearly documented in a report in the December issue (Volume 3, Number 4) of Breastfeeding Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news148661965.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:59:25 EST news148661965 Research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center scientists has figured out why a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine used in 1966 to inoculate children against the infection instead caused severe respiratory disease and effectively stopped efforts to make a better one. The findings, published online on Dec. 14 in Nature Medicine, could restart work on effective killed-virus vaccines not only for RSV but other respiratory viruses, researchers say. The new findings also debunk a popular theory that the 1966 vaccine was ineffective because the formalin used to inactivate the virus disrupted critical antigens, the substances that stimulate the production of protective antibodies. http://www.physorg.com/news148577725.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:35:25 EST news148577725 HIV is so deadly largely because it evolves so rapidly. With a single virus as the origin of an infection, most patients will quickly come to harbor thousands of different versions of HIV, all a little bit different and all competing with one another to most efficiently infect that person's cells. Its rapid and unique evolution in every patient is what allows HIV to evade the body's defenses and gives the virus great skill at developing resistance to a pantheon of antiviral drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news148278749.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:32:29 EST news148278749 Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and celiac disease appear to share a common genetic origin, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, have confirmed. http://www.physorg.com/news148152103.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:21:43 EST news148152103 (PhysOrg.com) -- Bloodstream infections frequently occur and commonly cause death among critically ill patients. Scientists at the University of Maine may have unlocked the answer to treating one of these infections that kills more than 30 percent of the patients it infects. http://www.physorg.com/news148151948.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:19:08 EST news148151948 Researchers may have identified one of the body's earliest responses to a group of parasites that causes illness in developing nations. http://www.physorg.com/news148148414.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:20:14 EST news148148414 A UCSF study has found that a surprisingly high number of maternal cells enters the fetus during pregnancy, prompting the generation of special immune cells in the fetus that suppress a response against the mother. http://www.physorg.com/news147622624.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:17:04 EST news147622624 Forget what's number one at the box office this week. The most exciting new film features the intricate workings of the body, filmed by scientists using ground-breaking technology. http://www.physorg.com/news147547181.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:19:41 EST news147547181 Some 80,000 people in Germany suffer from multiple sclerosis - their immune system attacks and destroys healthy nerve tissue. Researchers at the Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have succeeded in vaccinating mice with specially treated, autologous immune cells and preventing them from developing encephalitis, which is similar to multiple sclerosis in humans. A protein of the nervous system, that is the target of the harmful immune reaction in multiple sclerosis, was placed on the surface of the cells; the cells were treated with an agent that suppresses immune defense. http://www.physorg.com/news147367658.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:27:38 EST news147367658 Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body's immune system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked. Ovarian cancer is considered to be one of the most aggressive malignancies, killing more than 70 percent of diagnosed women within five years, including an estimated 15,000 this year. http://www.physorg.com/news147358984.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:03:04 EST news147358984 Our immune system plays an essential role in protecting us from diseases, but how does it do this exactly? Dutch biologist Suzanne van Helden discovered that before dendritic cells move to the lymph nodes they lose their sticky feet. This helps them to move much faster. Immature dendritic cells patrol the tissues in search of antigens. After exposure to such antigens they undergo a rigorous maturation process. During this maturation the dendritic cells migrate to the lymph nodes to activate T cells. Suzanne van Helden studied the adhesion and migration of both immature and mature dendritic cells. http://www.physorg.com/news147358649.html Biology Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:57:29 EST news147358649 (PhysOrg.com) -- Invading pathogens provoke a series of molecular heroics that, when successful, muster an army of antibodies to neutralize the threat. Like with any close-quarter combat, however, an aggressive immune response runs the risk of friendly fire accidents. For the last decade, immunologists have intensively studied mechanisms evolved by the immune system to avoid these accidents by shutting off the immune response once the invaders have been eliminated. http://www.physorg.com/news146930065.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:54:25 EST news146930065 (PhysOrg.com) -- In less than an hour, the immune system of the beetle Tenebrio molitor neutralizes most of the bacteria infecting its hemolymph (the equivalent to blood in vertebrates); this is rendered possible by a cascade of ready-to-use cells and enzymes. Bacteria that resist these "front-line" defenses are then dealt with by antimicrobial peptides - a sort of natural antibiotic - which halt their proliferation. http://www.physorg.com/news146925795.html Biology Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:43:15 EST news146925795 A new vaccine principle is being developed by scientists at the University of Copenhagen which - if it works to its full expected potential - could help to save millions of lives and revolutionise current vaccine technology. The 'InVacc' platform, as it is known, represents an advance on the original DNA vaccines and generates new vaccines with greatly enhanced properties. The platform consists of a chain of amino acids attached to a gene of the virus being vaccinated against. This genetic cocktail is then inserted into an incapacitated flu-like virus such as the adenovirus and injected into the body, where it triggers a broader and more aggressive immune response, enabling the immune system to quickly seek out and destroy the disease when it invades. http://www.physorg.com/news146746783.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:59:43 EST news146746783 The body's immune system hates strangers. When its security patrol spots a foreign cell, it annihilates it. http://www.physorg.com/news146409096.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:11:36 EST news146409096 Two new compounds created by a University of Central Florida professor show early promise for destroying breast cancer tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news146296883.html Medicine & Health Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:01:23 EST news146296883 Increased use of computers to create predictive models of human disease is likely following a workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), which urged for a collaborative effort between specialists in the field. Human disease research produces an enormous amount of data from different sources such as animal models, high throughput genetic screening of human tissue, and in vitro laboratory experiments. This data operates at different levels and scales including genes, molecules, cells, tissues and whole organs, embodying a huge amount of potentially valuable insight that current computer modelling approaches often fail to exploit properly. http://www.physorg.com/news145701292.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:34:52 EST news145701292 Researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of California, San Francisco, have revealed new hope for HIV treatment with the discovery of a way to 'rescue' immune cells that are exhausted from fighting off HIV infection. http://www.physorg.com/news145530660.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:11:00 EST news145530660 Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues in the United Kingdom have engineered T cells able to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system. The findings of the study, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications for developing new treatments for HIV, especially for patients with chronic infection who fail to respond to antiretroviral regimens. http://www.physorg.com/news145458050.html Medicine & Health Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:00:50 EST news145458050 MIT engineers have painted the most detailed portrait yet of how single cells from the immune system respond to vaccination. http://www.physorg.com/news144955953.html Chemistry Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:32:33 EST news144955953 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered a mechanism by which intracellular pathogens can shut down one of the body's key chemical weapons against them: nitric oxide. The researchers found that the microbes block nitric oxide production by subverting the biochemical machinery used by immune cells called macrophages to produce the chemical. http://www.physorg.com/news144946838.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:00:38 EST news144946838 By playing it safe and using a two-pronged attack, a novel designer molecule fights malignant melanoma. It was created and tested by an international team of researchers led by the University of Bonn. On the one hand, the substance is similar to components of viruses and in this way alerts the immune system. The body's own defences are also strengthened against cancer cells in this process. At the same time, the novel molecule also puts pressure on the tumour in a different way. It switches off a specific gene in the malignant cells, thus driving them to suicide. With mice suffering from cancer, the researchers have thus been able to fight metastases in the lung. In Nature Medicine's November issue they report about this promising strategy. http://www.physorg.com/news144852859.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:54:19 EST news144852859 Tumors that grow around nerves in a rare genetic disease need cooperation from cells from the immune system in order to grow, reports a team of scientists, including researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news144597897.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:04:57 EST news144597897 Multiple sclerosis (MS) results when the body's own defense system attacks nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Now scientists led by John Russell, Ph.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that interferon-gamma plays a deciding role in whether immune cells attack and injure the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) in mice. http://www.physorg.com/news144597341.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:55:41 EST news144597341 A new discovery by London biologists may yield new ways of handling the problem of transplant rejection. In a research article published in the November 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal, the scientists confirm the two-way transfer of a molecule (called "MHC") that instructs the immune system to tell "self" from "non-self." By disrupting the transfer of this molecule, newly transplanted organs should become "invisible" to the host's immune system. http://www.physorg.com/news144593103.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:45:03 EST news144593103 An international team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Basel in Switzerland have issued a report on the mechanism of toxicity of a chemical compound called Dibutyltin (DBT). Their findings will be published by PLoS ONE on October 28. http://www.physorg.com/news144413895.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:58:15 EST news144413895