A promising investigational therapeutic monoclonal antibody to treat chronic hepatitis B and D infections

08-Aug-2023 - Affecting hundreds of millions of people, chronic hepatitis B is a widespread global health problem for which there is as yet no cure. In a preclinical study involving the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg University Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and ...

Vaccination success without B cells

Communication between immune cells determines response to vaccination

16-Jul-2021 - Immunosuppressed patients often cannot build up good protection after a vaccination because the necessary cells of the immune system function less well or are not present at all. This has been studied especially in the drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists from TWINCORE and the ...

Anti-cancer drug’s mode of operation deciphered

How the membrane protein CD20 keeps the immune system’s antibody-producing cells in check

12-Feb-2021 - Rituximab, an anti-cancer drug targeting the membrane protein CD20, was the first approved therapeutic antibody against B tumor cells. Immunologists at the University of Freiburg have now solved a mystery about how it works. A team headed by Professor Dr. Michael Reth used cell cultures, healthy ...

A promising antibody

Research team tests novel immunotherapy against certain blood cancer cells in preclinical model trials

04-Oct-2019 - Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children. This form of blood cancer is caused by malignant abnormal precursor cells of certain white blood cells, and usually leads to a rapidly progressive reduction of bone marrow function, and thus impaired blood formation. If ...

Lasker Award 2019 for the invention of Herceptin

11-Sep-2019 - Herceptin was the first monoclonal antibody that blocks a cancer causing protein. For the invention of Herceptin and the development of a life-saving therapy for women with breast cancer, three researchers are now receiving the Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award: Axel Ullrich, ...

First use of vasoprotective antibody in cardiogenic shock

21-May-2019 - Scientists at the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) have started a study to find out whether a monoclonal antibody restoring vascular integrity is safe and has positive effects on organ functions of patients with cardiogenic shock. The multicenter trial is sponsored by the ...

Investigational monoclonal antibody to treat Ebola is safe in adults

28-Jan-2019 - The investigational Ebola treatment mAb114 is safe, well-tolerated, and easy to administer, according to findings from an early-stage clinical trial. Eighteen healthy adults received the monoclonal antibody as part of a Phase 1 clinical trial that began in May 2018 at the National Institutes of ...

Machine-learning driven findings uncover new cellular players in tumor microenvironment

Involvement of adipocytes in nivolumab response in ipilimumab resistant melanoma patients

18-Oct-2018 - New findings presented by CytoReason reveals possible new cellular players in the tumor microenvironment that could impact the treatment process for the most in-need patients - those who have already failed to respond to ipilimumab (anti-CTLA4) immunotherapy. Once validated, the findings could ...

Cancer: Tumor transition states

23-Apr-2018 - Researchers at the Université libre de Bruxelles, ULB define for the first time the tumor transition states occurring during cancer progression and identify the tumor cell populations responsible for metastasis. Tumor heterogeneity describes the differences between different cells within a given ...

Research offers clues for improved influenza vaccine design

10-Apr-2018 - Influenza vaccines that better target the influenza surface protein called neuraminidase (NA) could offer broad protection against various influenza virus strains and lessen the severity of illness, according to new researchl. Current seasonal influenza vaccines mainly target a different, more ...