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 ...

Explaining why myasthenia patients relapse after treatment

11-Sep-2017 - A new Yale-led study helps explain why some myasthenia gravis (MG) patients relapse after initially responding to a drug called rituximab, commonly used to treat the incurable autoimmune disease marked by muscle weakness and fatigue. In patients with MG, B cells — a subset of white cells that ...

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 ...

Molecular robots can help researchers build more targeted therapeutics

Study demonstrates technique to create better anti-cancer agents, arthritis drugs, and more

31-Jul-2013 - Many drugs such as agents for cancer or autoimmune diseases have nasty side effects because while they kill disease-causing cells, they also affect healthy cells. Now a new study has demonstrated a technique for developing more targeted drugs, by using molecular "robots" to hone in on more ...

EULAR issues updated rheumatoid arthritis management recommendations

Recommendations address use of synthetic and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs

05-Jul-2013 - The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has released updated recommendations for the management of RA. According to this latest guidance, treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) should be initiated as soon as a diagnosis of RA is made, with the aim of reaching a ...

Sandoz announces phase II clinical trial for biosimilar version of leading monoclonal antibody rituximab

14-Jan-2011 - Sandoz announced that it has begun a phase II clinical trial in patients for biosimilar rituximab (Roche's Rituxan® / Mabthera®), a monoclonal antibody indicated in conditions including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis.The phase II study in patients suffering from rheumatoid ...