New target to treat severe autoimmune disease

04-Oct-2024 - Researchers at the University of Basel have made significant progress in understanding a rare but serious immune disease. The team has uncovered critical mechanisms involved in the cellular recycling process, thus providing novel therapeutic approaches. LRBA deficiency is a rare and severe ...

The enemy within: How pathogens spread unrecognized in the body

Unique tactic uncovered

23-Apr-2024 - Some pathogens hide inside human cells to enhance their survival. Researchers at the University of Basel, have uncovered a unique tactic certain bacteria use to spread in the body without being detected by the immune system. In their study, they reveal the crucial role of a bacterial nanomachine ...

The marathon runners of the immune system

Are they the key to fighting chronic infections and cancer?

07-Mar-2023 - When it comes to chronic infections and cancer, a particular type of immune cell plays a central role in our defenses. Researchers at the University of Basel have uncovered the key to the tenacity of these immune cells in coping with the marathon that is fighting a chronic infection. Their ...

How an Emerging Drug Class Dampens Harmful Immune Reactions

It wasn't until 2021 that a new therapy came on the market, in the form of a class of drugs called compstatins, to inhibit harmful immune responses of the complement system

18-Nov-2022 - Although the complement system forms part of the innate immune system, it can cause damage to the body in some cases. This is because unwanted complement activation contributes to many autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. Now, researchers have described molecular details of a recently ...

Sugar molecules as a target in cancer therapy

How immune cells turn traitor

09-Nov-2022 - Cancer cells use sugar molecules on their surface to disable attacks by the body’s immune system. Researchers at the University of Basel now report on how this mechanism can be neutralized. The immune system is actually extremely well equipped to get rid of abnormal cells. As a safety mechanism, ...

Neutralizing antibodies control bacterial infection

“Such neutralizing antibodies have previously been described mostly in the context of viral infections”

28-Jun-2022 - University of Basel researchers have discovered neutralizing antibodies which prevent bacterial infection or bring them to a halt. Only changes in the antibody docking sites on the bacterial cell surface enables the pathogen to evade this effective immune defense. Bartonella are bacteria that are ...

Making cell therapies gentler and more efficient

CHF 46 million for a University of Basel start-up

20-Apr-2022 - Cell therapies are the new hope when it comes to tackling diseases such as leukemia or multiple sclerosis, but they require an intensive and strenuous course of pretreatment. Researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have developed an approach to make both this ...

Magnesium is essential for the immune system, including in the fight against cancer

T cells need a sufficient quantity of magnesium in order to operate efficiently

21-Jan-2022 - The level of magnesium in the blood is an important factor in the immune system’s ability to tackle pathogens and cancer cells. Writing in the journal Cell, researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have reported that T cells need a sufficient quantity of magnesium in ...

T cells: No time to die

Researchers reveal unrecognized pathway essential for T cell viability

29-Dec-2021 - They are at the forefront in the fight against viruses, bacteria, and malignant cells: the T cells of our immune system. But the older we get, the fewer of them our body produces. Thus, how long we remain healthy also depends on how long the T cells survive. Researchers at the University of Basel ...

An enemy within: Pathogens hide in tissue

Hidden in the Police Headquarter: Why some bacteria can survive antibiotic therapy

15-Dec-2021 - Antibiotics cure many bacterial infections. However, some patients suffer a relapse. A research group at the University of Basel has now discovered why some bacteria can survive antibiotic therapy. The team uncovered where the bacteria hide in the body and how the body's own immune system also ...