Why youngsters are more prone to human form of mad cow diseaseOctober 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from The Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh have identified certain immune cells that could help explain why younger people are more susceptible to human form of mad cow disease or variant CJD. They have specific cells within the immune system that attract corrupted proteins - known as prions - linked to variant CJD and encourage them to multiply and spread.
Natural killer cells help keep immune system in balanceOctober 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Natural killer (NK) cells, part of our immune system, kill cells infected with a given virus. Researchers have now found that the cells also help keep T-cells from over-responding.
Parasites' quirky trick to persuade immune cells to invite them in for dinnerAugust 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from Imperial College London have found that parasite leishmania tricks immune system to let it enter the body and cause skin infection. Leishmaniasis is an infection caused by Leishmania parasites that cause disfiguring and painful skin ulcers, and in severe cases the infection can also spread to the internal organs.
HIV-1 destroys immune response in the gut within days of infectionJuly 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers have found that HIV-1 virus moves rapidly in the body, and damages the B-cell antibody-producing system in the gut, within days of infection. The study by Centre for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology is the first to examine what happens to B cells in the gut in the earliest stage of HIV-1 infection.
Scientists find novel way of boosting newborns' immune responsesJune 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Newborns have immature immune system which makes them highly vulnerable to infections. Now, researchers from Children's Hospital Boston claim to have found a novel way to enhance innate immunity that would help keep respiratory syncytial virus, pneumococcus and rotavirus at bay.
Understanding plants' immune system will help researchers build better cropsMay 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the University of Missouri, US, have identified important suppressors that negatively regulate the responses of the immune system in the plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, which would allow breeders to create better yielding crop plants. "The immune system provides plants with strong protection from pathogens," said Walter Gassmann, associate professor of plant sciences in the MU Christopher S.
Researchers unravel how flu virus evades body's defencesMay 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers have identified a critical molecular mechanism that allows the flu virus to evade the body's immune response system. 'We have found a mechanism that the influenza virus uses to inhibit the body's immune response,' said Jae Jung, professor in molecular microbiology at University of Southern California (USC), and the principal study investigator.
Scientists unravel how smallpox virus sabotages our immune systemMay 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers are closing in on how smallpox virus go about their deadly business of sabotaging our immune system. These findings may reveal as much about our immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.
Scientists unravel how smallpox virus sabotages our immune systemMay 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers are closing in on how smallpox virus go about their deadly business of sabotaging our immune system. These findings may reveal as much about our immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.
How smallpox affects human immune systemMay 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from University of Florida have shed light on how small pox affects immune system. The research team have come across a particular interaction between the proteins produced by smallpox virus in concert with human proteins that disables one of the body's first responders to injury - inflammation.
Why flu may affect some more severely than othersMay 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the swine flu turning into a global pandemic, scientists have now discovered important clues about why influenza is more severe in some people than it is in others. Researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have shown that the influenza virus can actually paralyse the immune systems of otherwise healthy individuals, which could lead to severe secondary bacterial infections, such as pneumonia.
Why do seasonal allergies increase in springMay 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Spring season is often accompanied by allergies and increased problems for asthmatic people. Now, American scientists have identified a previously unknown cellular switch that turns allergies and asthma both on and off.
Lice can be nice too, for our immune systemApril 25th, 2009 LONDON - Wild mice have given experts some clues into why some parasites like lice are important for the conditioning of our 'natural' immune system. Jan Bradley, University of Nottingham parasitologist, said: 'Our understanding of mammalian immunology is largely based on rodents reared under highly unnatural pathogen and stress-free conditions.'
'Analysing the immune response in wild populations can give crucial insights into how the (human) immune system functions in its natural context,' he said.
Immune cell could improve treatment of viral skin infectionApril 13th, 2009 SYDNEY - The local action of immune cells in the skin could improve treatment of viral infections, according to a recent discovery. A new study identifies previously unrecognised first-line defence mechanisms that are particularly important in the skin and the gut, often used as entry points by viruses and bacteria.
Researchers for natural approach to HIV vaccineMarch 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - For the past 25 years, researchers have tried and failed to develop an HIV vaccine, their entire focus being on a small number of engineered 'super antibodies' to fend off the virus before it takes hold. So far, these magic bullet antibodies have proved impossible to produce in people.
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