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. Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://www.physorg.com/news171636864.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:00:01 EST news171636864 (PhysOrg.com) -- Killed or disabled viruses have proven safe and effective for vaccinating billions worldwide against smallpox, polio, measles, influenza and many other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news171273137.html Biology Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:00:16 EST news171273137 University of Michigan scientists say they have uncovered a fundamentally new mechanism that holds in check aggressive immune cells that can attack the body's own cells. The findings open a new avenue of research for future therapies for conditions ranging from autoimmune diseases to organ transplants to cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news171028780.html Chemistry Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:10:02 EST news171028780 Viruses have numerous tricks for dodging the immune system. In the September 7, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Stagg et al. reveal a key detail in one of these stratagems, identifying a protein that enables cyto-megalovirus to shut down an antiviral defense (online August 31). http://www.physorg.com/news170932130.html Biology Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:09:21 EST news170932130 Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered why older people may be so vulnerable to cancer and infections in the skin. The team from UCL has shown in human volunteers that defective immunity in the skin is caused by an inability to mobilise essential defences that would otherwise recognise threats and clear them before irreparable damage is done. This discovery could be important for preventing, managing or treating many age-related skin health problems. The study will be published in 31 August edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news170659774.html Medicine & Health Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:40:01 EST news170659774 In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University have found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast communications network of connections in the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news170503954.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:13:27 EST news170503954 Got high cholesterol? You might want to consider a bone density test. A new UCLA study sheds light on the link between high cholesterol and osteoporosis and identifies a new way that the body's immune cells play a role in bone loss. http://www.physorg.com/news170341957.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:13:17 EST news170341957 Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news169995952.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:06:23 EST news169995952 The sex hormone estrogen tempers the killing activity of a specific group of immune cells, the cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), which are known to attack tumor cells and cells infected by viruses. The key player in this process is a cytotoxic T cell molecule which has been known for a long time and which scientists have named EBAG9. http://www.physorg.com/news169120247.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:20:07 EST news169120247 Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, believe conventional vaccine strategies should not be the only avenue explored in the development of an effective AIDS vaccine. Based on studying simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) in African nonhuman primates, they propose an additional new approach to the AIDS vaccine research agenda in a commentary featured in the August issue of Nature Medicine. Their recommendations outline specific research priorities and describe how each may lead to a novel "out of the box" approach for developing an AIDS vaccine. http://www.physorg.com/news168863801.html Medicine & Health Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:38:03 EST news168863801 A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma. http://www.physorg.com/news168792252.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:30:01 EST news168792252 Risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers is greater for people living with AIDS and increases with increasing immunosuppression, according to a new study published online July 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news168281785.html Medicine & Health Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:00:01 EST news168281785 (PhysOrg.com) -- Early initiation of lifesaving antiretroviral therapies should be the standard of care for all HIV-infected patients, even those in countries with limited medical and financial resources, according to a study led by Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news167926028.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:20:01 EST news167926028 Following the disbandment of the STEP trial to test the efficacy of the Merck HIV-1 vaccine candidate in 2007, the leading explanation for why the vaccine was ineffective - and may have even increased susceptibility to acquiring the virus - centered on the hypothesis that high levels of baseline Ad5-specific neutralizing antibodies may have increased HIV-1 acquisition among the study subjects who received the vaccine by increasing Ad5-specific CD4+ T-cells that were susceptible to HIV-1 infection. http://www.physorg.com/news167328837.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:20:03 EST news167328837 A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania reports new evidence refuting a popular hypothesis about the highly publicized failure in 2007 of the Merck STEP HIV vaccine study that cast doubt on the feasibility of HIV-1 vaccines. The findings were published on-line July 20 in Nature Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news167316214.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:30:01 EST news167316214 Early initiation of lifesaving antiretroviral therapies should be the standard of care for all HIV-infected patients, even those in countries with limited medical and financial resources, according to a study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news167313665.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:03:05 EST news167313665 A recently identified gene allows immune cells to start the self-destructive processes thought to underlie autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. http://www.physorg.com/news166986841.html Medicine & Health Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:20:02 EST news166986841 Transplant patients rely on drugs to prevent graft rejection, but at the cost of serious side effects. The class of immunosuppressive drugs known as calcineurin inhibitors (examples are cyclosporine and tacrolimus) can damage patients' kidneys and lead to high blood pressure, among other problems. http://www.physorg.com/news166276476.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:54:56 EST news166276476 It has been known for a long time that T cells can attack the body's own structures and, if they infiltrate the CNS, cause diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The T cells damage the myelin sheath, the material that surrounds and protects the fibers of nerve cells. This damage slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body, leading to various symptoms of MS such as impaired movements. http://www.physorg.com/news165489022.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:20:02 EST news165489022 Rapamycin, a drug given to transplant recipients to suppress their immune systems, has a paradoxical effect on cells responsible for immune memory, scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news164809846.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:31:30 EST news164809846 Children born without thymus glands have given Duke University Medical Center researchers a rare opportunity to watch as a new immune system develops its population of infection-fighting T-cells. http://www.physorg.com/news164381929.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:10:01 EST news164381929 When female tiger salamanders choose a mate, it turns out that size does matter - tail size that is - and that's not the only factor they weigh. http://www.physorg.com/news163692969.html Biology Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:16:38 EST news163692969 Vaccines intended to help the body to fight off the flu bug may actually give the bug an edge, researchers say. http://www.physorg.com/news163677287.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:55:18 EST news163677287 A drug derived from the hydrangea root, used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, shows promise in treating autoimmune disorders, report researchers from the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Immune Disease Institute at Children's Hospital Boston (PCMM/IDI), along with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. In the June 5 edition of Science, they show that a small-molecule compound known as halofuginone inhibits the development of Th17 cells, immune cells recently recognized as important players in autoimmune disease, without altering other kinds of T cells involved in normal immune function. They further demonstrate that halofuginone reduces disease pathology in a mouse model of autoimmunity. http://www.physorg.com/news163344064.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:21:32 EST news163344064 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed the first mouse model for auto-inflammatory diseases, disorders that involve the over-activation of the body's innate, primitive immune system. Their study, published early on-line in Cell Immunity on June 4, suggests that the innate - not adaptive - immune system drives auto-inflammatory diseases. The findings could open new therapeutic directions for research into disorders such as gout or inflammatory bowel disease. http://www.physorg.com/news163343219.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:07:50 EST news163343219 Linking genetic material microRNAs with cells that regulate the immune system could one day lead to new therapies for treating cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. http://www.physorg.com/news163096621.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:37:37 EST news163096621 A vaccine for one of the most lethal cancers, advanced melanoma, has shown improved response rates and progression-free survival for patients when combined with the immunotherapy drug, Interleukin-2, according to researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news163071438.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:39:48 EST news163071438 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dendritic cells are the sentinels of the immune system. When they`re alert and on guard, they will marshal the body`s immunosoldiers, T cells, to battle at the sight of harmful pathogens. But some diseases, such as cancer, are able to escape their watchful eye. By knocking out or beguiling dendritic cells, they slip the defenses of the immune system and sack the unsuspecting body. New research shows that one of the most common types of skin cancer has learned such a trick, finding a way to disable apparently healthy dendritic cells, which then allow cancer cell nests to spread around them without calling T cells to the fight. http://www.physorg.com/news162658919.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 May 2009 16:02:46 EST news162658919 If we imagine our immune system to be a police force for our bodies, then previous work has suggested that the Lymph nodes would be the best candidate structures within the body to act as police stations - the regions in which the immune response is organised. http://www.physorg.com/news162548684.html Biology Tue, 26 May 2009 09:25:23 EST news162548684 Current research suggests that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can evade the immune response. The related report by Rahman et al, "Compartmentalization of immune responses in human tuberculosis: few CD8+ effector T cells but elevated levels of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in the granulomatous lesions," appears in the June 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://www.physorg.com/news162214973.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 May 2009 12:46:21 EST news162214973