CRISPR/Cas9 shown to limit impact of certain parasitic diseases

Limiting the impact of schistosomiasis and liver fluke infection

17-Jan-2019 - For the first time, researchers at the George Washington University (GW), together with colleagues at institutes in Thailand, Australia, the U.K. and the Netherlands, and more, have successfully used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to limit the impact of parasitic worms responsible for ...

Breakthrough in designing a better Salmonella vaccine

26-Sep-2018 - UC Davis researchers announce a breakthrough in understanding which cells afford optimal protection against Salmonella infection--a critical step in developing a more effective and safe vaccine against a bacterium that annually kills an estimated one million people worldwide. Professor Stephen ...

Allergies? Exhausted regulatory T cells may play a role

28-Aug-2017 - Researchers have evidence that the specialized T cells responsible for maintaining a balanced immune response are vulnerable to exhaustion that disrupts normal functioning and may even contribute to allergic reactions. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study. The report is ...

A new way to treat HIV identified

28-Aug-2017 - Medical treatment that targets human proteins rather than ever-mutating viruses may one day help HIV-positive people whose bodies have built a resistance to "cocktails" currently used to keep them healthy, according to a Keck School of Medicine of USC researcher. I-Chueh Huang has spent 13 years ...

Immune cells may be key to better allergy, infection therapies

07-Aug-2017 - By learning how a recently discovered immune cell works in the body, researchers hope to one day harness the cells to better treat allergies and infections, according to new Cornell University research. Type 1 regulatory (Tr1) cells are a type of regulatory immune cell that help suppress immune ...

Brain fights West Nile Virus in unexpected way

19-May-2017 - In a turnabout, a biochemical self-destruct trigger found in many other types of cells appears to guard the lives of brain cells during an infection with West Nile virus. UW Medicine scientists led research showing that this chemical pathway doesn't have to sacrifice brain cells to destroy the ...

New method enables creation of better therapeutic antibodies

15-Mar-2017 - Antibodies are the foot soldiers of our immune system. These specialized, Y-shaped proteins attach to bacteria and viruses, where they either block the pathogen's activity directly, or signal the immune system's cells to destroy the invader. The second function--the ability to target invaders for ...

How to amplify or stifle signals for immune responses

09-Mar-2017 - T cells, the managers of our immune systems, spend their days shaking hands with another type of cell that presents small pieces of protein from pathogens or cancerous cells to the T cell. But each T cell is programmed to recognize just a few protein pieces, known as antigens, meaning years can ...

Cellular responses to bird flu vaccine uncovered

20-Feb-2017 - New research from Vanderbilt University eavesdrops on gene expression in human immune system cells before and after vaccination against bird flu. The study exposes cellular responses associated with a vaccine constituent called AS03, short for adjuvant system 03. Using massive computation, the ...

Reservoir divers: Select antiviral cells can access HIV's hideouts

02-Feb-2017 - When someone is HIV-positive and takes antiretroviral drugs, the virus persists in a reservoir of infected cells. Those cells hide out in germinal centers, specialized areas of lymph nodes, which most "killer" antiviral T cells don't have access to. Scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research ...