Rectal Gel Prevents Transmission Of AIDS-like Virus In Macaques Aug 7, 2008
Also, because HIV targets activated T cells, experiments should be done to check that the observed immune responses do not increase the likelihood of infection on later exposure before this approach can be tested in humans ... Cranage M, Sharpe S, Herrera C, Cope A, Dennis M, et al. Prevention of SIV rectal transmission and priming of T cell responses in macaques after local preexposure application of tenofovir gel. (Science Daily)
Novel method to create personalized immunotherapy treatments Aug 6, 2008
MONTREAL, QC and DURHAM, N.C. - August 5, 2008 Argos Therapeutics and Universit de Montral today announced the presentation of new information on Argos'process for developing dendritic cell-based immunotherapies for HIV. Results from the study demonstrate that loading monocyte-derived dendritic cells with combinations of HIV antigen RNA stimulates the expansion of HIV-specific T cells, which attack and kill HIV-infected cells ... "A key step in the durable control of HIV infection requires... (EurekAlert!)
Immunotherapy in high-risk pediatric sarcomas shows promising response Aug 1, 2008
"We need new therapies. While outcomes overall for these tumors have improved during the past 40 years, there has not been substantial improvement for patients with metastatic or recurrent disease. This study shows that immunotherapy is safe and well tolerated, and could ultimately be beneficial for this high risk population. Mackall calls the study a rational approach to improving treatment of ESFT and AR. "We now know that the immune system of patients recovering from chemotherapy is... (EurekAlert!)
Mindfulness meditation slows progression of HIV, study shows Jul 25, 2008
CD4+ T lymphocytes, or simply CD4 T cells, are the "brains" of the immune system, coordinating its activity when the body comes under attack ... The virus slowly eats away at CD4 T cells, weakening the immune system ... But the immune systems of HIV/AIDS patients face another enemy as well stress, which can accelerate CD4 T cell declines. (EurekAlert!)
HIV conquers immune system faster than previously realized Jul 19, 2008
Until now, scientists believed that the window of opportunity to intervene in the process of HIV-1 infection lay in the three to four weeks between transmission and the development of an established pool of infected CD4 T cells. HIV-1 cripples the immune system by invading and killing CD4 T cells, key infection-fighters in the body ... In measuring the levels of four products of CD4 T cell death during this period in these samples, they were able to track and establish a timetable of the virus's... (EurekAlert!)
Mobilizing White Blood Cells To The Lung: New Discovery Could Lead To An Improved Influenza Vaccine Jul 15, 2008
T Cell Response to Respiratory Virus Infections. Immunity, July 2008. (Science Daily)
Most Study Participants Understand Research Goals Jul 8, 2008
Among the 292 people in the IL-2 arm of the study, most said increasing the number of key immune system T cells was the most important reason for continuing in the study, followed by finding better HIV treatments for patients in their country ... In the non-IL-2 group, the top choice was finding effective treatments for HIV-positive people in their country, followed by finding HIV treatments for people in other countries and boosting their T cell counts. (MEDLINEplus)
Best treatment for MS may depend on disease subtype Jul 2, 2008
The U-M research team conducted the studies in mice that have a disease similar to MS: experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis or EAE. The team found that different inflammatory chemicals, whose activity is linked to two different types of immune system T cells, could bring on the same paralysis and other MS-like signs ... U-M researchers Benjamin Segal and Mark Kroenke analyze data on individual immune system T cell responses ... They measured the activity of specific inflammatory agents that... (EurekAlert!)
Zinc Finger Proteins Put Personalized HIV Therapy Within Reach Jul 1, 2008
ScienceDaily (June 30, 2008) Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans ... The Penn researchers and colleagues from Sangamo Biosciences (Nasdaq:SGMO), Richmond, CA, who developed the zinc finger technology, report in an advanced online issue of Nature Biotechnology the first steps towards the goal of using modified T cells from an... (Science Daily)
ATTACK OF THE CLONES Jun 29, 2008
Taking a simple blood sample from the patient, researchers isolated a single immune cell - the CD4+ T cell - cloned it in a laboratory and injected 5 billion copies of the infection-fighting cell back into the patient in a two-hour infusion. CD4+ T cells help other T cells to grow, particularly the CD8+ T cells - or "killer T cells" - that do the actual damage to the tumors ... (Yee had done experiments using infusions of just CD8+ T cells but found cloned CD8+ T can't survive in the body... (New York Post -- Opinions)
Washington Univ. awards $150,000 in Bear Cub Fund grants Jun 26, 2008
Linette will use his grant to make adoptive T cell immunotherapy a reality for patients with infectious diseases and cancer. The Bear Cub grant will help Moran's developed microelectrode to be fabricated, implanted in the sciatic nerves of rats and evaluated. (St. Louis Business Journal, MO)
Potential New Way To Block Inflammation In Autoimmune Disease Discovered Jun 25, 2008
While closely related to TNFR1, DR3 is expressed in T cells, a different kind of immune cell (a white blood cell that identifies and fights infection) than those that express TNFR1, Dr. Siegel said. The NIAMS group collaborated with a laboratory in Cardiff, Wales, which had generated genetically engineered mice deficient in DR3, as well as with a research group at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which has developed mouse models of disease with strong T... (Science Daily)
Rapamycin delays growth of Wnt-1 tumors in spite of suppression of host immunity Jun 21, 2008
T cell depletion in spleen and thymus and reduction in T cell cytokine secretion were evident within 7 days of therapy. By day 20, splenic but not thymic T cell counts, and cytokine secretion recovered ... We determined whether adoptive T cell therapy enhances the anti-cancer effect using ex vivo generated Rapamycin-resistant T cells. (BioMed Central)
New medical research could lead to skin cancer vaccine Jun 20, 2008
But she says this time they concentrated on CD4 T cells to boost general immunity. NAOMI HUNDER: One thing we found that we showed in the paper was that their immunity to multiple tumour antigens was increased after the T cell infusion, not just the one we were targeting, but at least two others it was also increased ... CHRISTOPHER PARISH: From what I can see they've taken just the normal white cells from s patient but then they've expanded out T cells that are against a particular molecule... (ABC Online)
Man's Melanoma Thwarted by Immune Fix Jun 20, 2008
Yee and colleagues hunted for special immune system cells called CD4+ T cells in a blood sample provided by the melanoma patient ... "What we and others have thought might be important is that we need to give patients more of these cancer-fighting T cells which may be present in low frequency in most people," Yee says ... But Yee points out that his team has tried the same T cell approach on eight other patients, none of whom has had the same success. (WebMD)
Small success with immunotherapy in skin cancer study Jun 20, 2008
Researchers used a single infection-fighting cell from the man's immune system, CD4 T cell, copies of which were grown in a laboratory ... In recent experiments, Rosenberg and other researchers have focused on souping up a certain kind of immune system cell, the "killer T cells" that envelop and kill foreign agents ... The Hutchinson center scientists focused instead on specific helper T cells that are adept at locking onto a cancer cell and guiding the killer cells to their target. (Newsday)
Patient's Own Infection-Fighting T Cells Put Late-Stage Melanoma Into Long-Term Remission - Without Chemotherapy or Radiation Jun 19, 2008
Case is first to show safety and effectiveness of using cloned cells alone to kill tumors SEATTLE, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers describe the first successful use of a human patient's cloned infection-fighting T cells as the sole therapy to put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into long-term remission ... Yee and colleagues removed CD4+ T cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose Stage 4 melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to a lung ... T cells specific to... (PR Newswire)
Patient, Heal Thyself: Body's Own Immune Cells Whack Late-Stage Tumor Jun 19, 2008
Pilot study marks first time that treatment with infection-fighting T cells alone takes out cancer ... The scientists say the successful experiment could pave the way for new treatments of advanced cancer that spare patients the side effects of chemotherapy, which kills healthy as well as malignant cells ... The researchers grew T cells (that target a specific protein, or antigen, on the tumor cells) in the lab until they had a population they believed was large enough to destroy the cancer. (Scientific American)
Melanoma Stopped in Patient With 5 Billion Copies of Own Cell Jun 19, 2008
Copies of an infection-fighting CD4 T cell were grown in a laboratory, and then used to attack the 52-year-old patient's tumor, the report said ... We were surprised by the anti-tumor effect of these CD4 T cells and its duration of response,'' said Cassian Yee, the senior author of the paper and an associate member of the clinical research division, in a statement ... The patient didn't receive any treatment other than the cloned infection-fighting T cells. (Bloomberg)
New Cellular Mechanism That Will Significantly Advance Vaccine Development Discovered Jun 19, 2008
" said LIAI scientist Shane Crotty, Ph.D., the lead researcher on the paper, "Selective CD4 T cell help for antibody responses to a large viral pathogen: deterministic linkage of specificities. " Alessandro Sette, Ph.D., a renowned vaccine expert and director of the LIAI Center for Infectious Disease, also was a key contributor on the study. Dr. Crotty said the team studied the smallpox vaccine, considered the "gold standard" of vaccines, and found some startling answers. "We expected one thing... (Science Daily)
Cell Surface Receptors Are All 'Talk' In T Cell Stimulation Jun 14, 2008
To reveal how these receptors communicate, Bunnell, assistant professor of pathology at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the immunology program faculty at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, formulated a fluorescent imaging technique that reveals the dynamic movements of proteins within living T cells ... T cells play an essential role defending the body against viruses and bacteria ... To mount these defenses, T cells must sense these pathogens via cell... (Science Daily)
Abatacept and infliximab improve clinical response over time in methotrexate-refractory RA patients Jun 14, 2008
The ATTEST (Abatacept or infliximab versus placebo, a Trial for Tolerability, Efficacy and Safety in Treating RA) trial compared abatacept (~10mg/kg), a selective T cell co-stimulation modulator, with infliximab (3mg/kg), a monoclonal antibody, plus methotrexate (as per each patient's usual dosage, mean dose 16. 3-16. (EurekAlert!)
Enhanced IL-10 production in response to hepatitis C virus proteins by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from human immunodeficiency virus-monoinfected individuals Jun 14, 2008
HCV-specific T cell proliferation was detectable in only one HIV/HCV-coinfected individual who demonstrated no HCV-induced IL-10 response. Conclusions. (BioMed Central)
TB Treatment For Elderly Likely Requires Boost To Immune Response Jun 13, 2008
Simulations of TB infection in an old mouse showed that increasing the number of infection-fighting white blood cells, called CD4 T cells, could be particularly effective at bolstering the mouse s immune response, which naturally slows with aging ... The macrophage activates specific molecules that make pieces of the bacteria visible to the infection-fighting T cells, which triggers an eventual T-cell response to come to the macrophage s aid ... So you have a delay before the T cells can see the... (Science Daily)
New Cancer Clue: MicroRNA Controls Expression Of Oncogenes Jun 11, 2008
Dr. Marcos Malumbres from the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain and colleagues identified a miRNA-rich chromosomal region in mice that is frequently lost in T cell malignancies. This particular region encodes about 12% of all genomic miRNAs. (Science Daily)
New Hope For Rheumatoid Arthritis Sufferers: B Cells As Promising New Therapeutic Targets Jun 10, 2008
22, 2005) New research published in Arthritis Research & Therapy found that very early rheumatoid arthritis is characterised by a distinct profile of T cell, macrophage and stromal cell related cytokines. (May 13, 2008) Women who breast feed for longer have a smaller chance of getting rheumatoid arthritis, suggests a new study. (Science Daily)
Generex Biotechnology Presented Data At American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions Jun 9, 2008
Internationally renowned diabetes investigator Professor Paolo Pozzilli of the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes at University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy made a podium presentation of an abstract entitled ``Detection of T Cell Response to Insulin and GAD in Type 1 Diabetes Using the Ii-Key Hybrid Technique ... The study demonstrated that T cells from patients recently diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes responded differently to Ii-Key hybrid peptides derived from either the insulin or GAD... (Primezone Releases)
Silver Rings To Treat Arthritis Symptoms Validated Jun 5, 2008
22, 2005) New research published in Arthritis Research & Therapy found that very early rheumatoid arthritis is characterised by a distinct profile of T cell, macrophage and stromal cell related cytokines. (Mar. (Science Daily)
How Autoimmune Disease Occurs Jun 4, 2008
T cells known as suppressor cells are key to autoimmunity ... These T cells keep the B lymphocytes in check ... It's been shown that low suppressor T cell activity correlates with increased incidence of autoimmune disease there just aren't enough generals to keep the troops under control. (Suite101.com)
New Approach To Treating Autoimmune Disease Developed Jun 4, 2008
In healthy people, a small but crucial group of immune cells called regulatory T cells, or T-regs, keeps autoimmunity in check, but in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), one of the most common autoimmune disorders, too few of these cells appear in the diseased intestine, and the ones that do fail to function properly ... Relying on Eshhar s earlier work in which he equipped a different type of T cell to zero in on cancerous tumors, the team genetically engineered T-regs, outfitting... (Science Daily)
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Collaborators to Present Reovirus Research at ASGT Meeting May 30, 2008
An oral presentation entitled "Purging Lymph Node Metastases with Adoptive T Cell Therapy, Oncolytic Virotherapy and Immunotherapy" is scheduled to be presented on Saturday, May 31, 2008. In many cancers, disease spreads to other parts of the body via the lymph nodes. (Canada Newswire)
Regulatory B cells exist -- and pack a punch May 28, 2008
While the study of regulatory T cells is a hot area with obvious clinical applications, everyone has been pretty skeptical about whether regulatory B cells exist, said Thomas F. Tedder, Ph ... The B10 cells also can affect the function of T cells, which are immune system cells that generally boost immune responses by producing cytokines ... T cells also attack tumors and virus-infected cells. (EurekAlert!)
Cancer vaccine target pinpointed May 24, 2008
"Vaccines work by triggering an army of immune cells, called T cells, to attack potentially dangerous foreign molecules, like those found on pathogens. "Dendritic cells are the messengers, telling the T cells who to attack. "Vaccines will carry a sample of the offending molecule and deliver it to DNGR-1 on the dendritic cells, which in turn will present the molecule to the armies of T cells and instruct them to attack.". (BBC News -- Health)
New Hope For HIV Vaccine: Unique HIV Vaccine Formula Elicits Strong Immune Responses May 24, 2008
In light of these initial findings, additional assays on volunteers samples were done by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, independently confirming the presence of long lasting and high quality T cell responses against HIV antigens. . (Science Daily)
Abnormal 'editing' of gene messages may be a cause of lupus May 20, 2008
D., assistant professor of internal medicine and senior author, said that in systemic lupus erythematosus, the normal editing process goes awry, causing a shift in the balance of proteins that results in impaired functions in T cells, a type of white blood cell involved in the regulation of immune functions. Impaired T cell function is a hallmark of lupus, a complex chronic autoimmune disorder that can range from a benign skin disorder to severe, life-threatening multisystem disease ... The... (EurekAlert!)
Immune Cells Kill Foes By Disrupting Mitochondria Two Ways May 18, 2008
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2008) When killer T cells of the immune system encounter virus-infected or cancer cells, they unload a lethal mix of toxic proteins that trigger the target cells to self-destruct. A new study shows T cells can initiate cellular suicide, also known as programmed cell death or apoptosis, by a previously unrecognized pathway that starts with the destruction of a key enzyme in mitochondria, the power plant of the cell ... The study, from the lab of Judy Lieberman, a senior... (Science Daily)
Scientists Get Inside A Long-suspected HIV Hideout In Humans May 16, 2008
Two other types of cells, macrophages and the latently infected CD4+ T cell, have previously been shown to be reservoirs of HIV. With the BYU-Johns Hopkins study, FDCs conclusively join the list ... So when you try to get them to release those arms so we can separate the different cells, they don t like to do that and the cell can get destroyed in the process. (Science Daily)
St. Jude study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity May 13, 2008
A St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital study shows that T cells, the bodys master immune regulators, do not use simple on/off switches to govern the cellular machinery that regulates their development and function ... Such subtle adjustment enables T cells to modulate their development and function, including avoiding autoimmunity ... Our findings hint that this delayed onset could be explained by subtle defects in the molecular controls on T cells. (EurekAlert!)
Lady Washington expected tonight May 8, 2008
By , Staff Writer Thursday, May 08, 2008. Kari Thoresen, left, and Jennifer Clark polish the brass compass onboard the Hawaiian Chieftain this morning after the tall sailing ship arrived at the Coos Bay Boardwalk docks around midnight. (Coos Bay-North Bend The World, OR)
No comments posted. May 8, 2008
The World Link: Lady Washington expected tonight. Lady Washington expected tonight. (Coos Bay-North Bend The World, OR)
HIV drug resistance target find May 2, 2008
ITK is involved in activating a type of immune cell called a T cell in the presence of infection ... HIV works by infecting T cells, taking them over so they can replicate and create large quantities of the virus, compromising the whole immune system. (BBC News -- Health)
Duke doctors offer a sliver of hope Apr 21, 2008
Infants with low-functioning thymus glands often see T cell function improve with age ... Donated thymus tissue could help Jayla generate T cells that fight infections ... Immunity jump startThe thymus, which actually begins its work training T cells while the fetus is developing, is largest and most active in newborns. (News & Observer)
Immunotherapy: Enlisting The Immune System To Fight Cancer Apr 19, 2008
CTLA-4 blockade for hormone refractory prostate cancer: dose-dependent induction of CD8+ T cell activation and clinical responses ... Researchers monitored T cell activation and toxicity ... Dendritic and T cell functions in patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer treated with GVAX immunotherapy for prostate cancer and ipilumumab. (Science Daily)
Transcriptional regulation by Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 during T cell activation Apr 16, 2008
Recently, we have shown that PARP-1 is activated during T cell activation. However, the proposed role of PARP-1 in reprogramming T cell gene expression upon activation remains largely unexplored ... In the present study we use oligonucleotide microarray analysis to gain more insight into the role played by PARP-1 during the gene expression reprogramming that takes place in T cells upon activation with anti-CD3 stimulation alone, or in combination with anti-CD28 co-stimulation. (BioMed Central)
T-cell Multiplication Unexpectedly Delayed After Infection Apr 15, 2008
14, 2008) In a surprising outcome that overturns the conventional wisdom on the body's immune response to infection, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that T cells do not begin proliferation until up to three days after infection ... Until now, it was generally believed that memory T cells, lymphocytes that recognize pathogens from previous infections, begin cell division at a far earlier point than na ve T cells, fresh cells that respond to new infections ... The new... (Science Daily)
Embryonic Stem Cells May Help Overcome Rejection Apr 13, 2008
Dr Paul Fairchild, explains: "Our work provides hope that the immune system may be persuaded to accept tissues derived from ES cells more readily than has been the case for tissues and organs from conventional sources. It appears that ES cell-derived tissues contribute to their own acceptance by creating an environment conducive to T cell regulation, which may one day be harnessed therapeutically." ... enlarge Tissues derived from ES cells (blue) which have been accepted by recipient mice by... (Science Daily)
Cells on path to becoming mature T-cells more flexible than commonly thought Apr 10, 2008
PHILADELPHIA Contrary to the currently accepted model of T-cell development, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that juvenile cells on their way to becoming mature immune cells can develop into either T cells or other blood-cell types versus only being committed to the T-cell path ... It is critically important to understand the life history of the T-cell lineage and to define the steps that multipotent progenitor cells take to mature to T cells, says... (EurekAlert!)
Chinese exercises help fight diabetes Apr 4, 2008
T cells are a key component of the body's immune system, producing powerful chemicals, including interleukins, that are critical to a healthy response against invaders ... Levels of interleukin-12, which boosts the immune response, doubled, while T cell activity -- a sign of health -- also significantly increased. (Hindustan Times)
Tai Chi Exercises Improve Type 2 Diabetes Control, Study Suggests Apr 3, 2008
T cells are a key component of the body s immune system, producing powerful chemicals, including interleukins, which alter the immune response ... T cell activity also significantly increased ... Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production Online First Br J Sports Med 2008; doi 10. (Science Daily)
AIDS created by an evolutionary accident? Apr 2, 2008
This means critical defense cells called helper T cells are continuously activated and die more quickly than usual. The researchers found the Nef protein of most SIVs removes a molecule from the cell surface that is critical to make T cells responsive to stimulation ... The team will examine whether SIVs carrying Nef genes artificially made incapable of limiting T cell activation might become more pathogenic in their natural monkey hosts. (Xinhuanet, China)
Tai chi helps with diabetes Apr 1, 2008
T cells are a key component of the body's immune system, producing powerful chemicals, including interleukins, that are critical to a healthy response against invaders At the end of the programme, levels of glycated haemoglobin excess sugar carried by red blood cells fell significantly in the diabetic patients. Levels of interleukin-12, which boosts the immune response, doubled, while T cell activity a sign of health also significantly increased. (iAfrica.com)
Tai Chi Helps Improve Type 2 Diabetes Apr 1, 2008
T cells are a key component of the bodys immune system, producing powerful chemicals, including interleukins, which alter the immune response ... T cell activity also significantly increased. (Newsmax)
New Technique Will Speed The Development Of Vaccines, Study Shows Mar 28, 2008
Each purified test protein was then presented to T cells from cows that had previously been exposed to Anaplasma outer membrane proteins. T cells are the immune system s memory cells ... In Brown s test, if the T cells recognized a protein, they started dividing and making interferon. (Science Daily)
Expansion of monocyte subset could serve as a biomarker for HIV progressions Mar 28, 2008
We were surprised to find that patients with CD4+ T cell counts of less than 450 cells per microliter [200 or less per microliter is defined as AIDS], the increase of this monocyte subset correlates inversely with the number of T cells ... Fischer-Smith said this finding suggests that as the monocyte cells are increasing, these patients are losing CD4+ T cells, which are critical for the maintenance of immunological competence ... This may actually provide an earlier window into what is... (EurekAlert!)
NIH to refocus HIV vaccine research Mar 27, 2008
"T cells cannot control infection on their own," he argued, a vaccine must also stimulate broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies produced by B cells. T cells take hours or days to respond to an infection, while the innate immune response of B cells is present in the mucosal tissue where the virus first enters the body through sexual contact ... The vaccines that have gone into clinical trials have only tried to stimulate T cell protection. (Bay Area Reporter)
Survival Mechanism Of T Lymphocytes Uncovered Mar 23, 2008
These cells originate in the bone marrow and mature in the thymus, hence called T cells. Once matured, these cells circulate as na ve T cells throughout the body in an inactive form ... In case of an infection, another class of white blood cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, can activate the T cells by presenting small peptides derived from these infectious agents to specific receptor molecules that reside on the surface of T cells, the so-called T cell receptors. (Science Daily)
New More Effective Tuberculosis Screening Test For HIV Victims Mar 7, 2008
The measurement test of the release of interferon-g (IFN-g) by the T cells stimulated by antigens specific to the tuberculosis pathogen (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). The number of T cells secreting IFN-g is determined by counting the spots on a membrane covering the wells of an ELISA plate ... Each spot represents a T cell secreting IFN-g. (Science Daily)
New Target For Cancer Therapy May Improve Treatment For Solid Tumors Mar 6, 2008
5, 2008) Targeting and killing the non-malignant cells that surround and support a cancer can stop tumor growth in mice, reports a research team based at the University of Chicago Medical Center in the March 1, 2008, issue of the journal Cancer Research ... They injected T cells, the immune system's warriors, into mice with large established cancers ... These T cells, specifically engineered to recognize the tumor antigen, had no direct impact on the cancerous cells but managed to kill stromal... (Science Daily)
Psoriasis Lesions Loaded With Newly Discovered Immune Cell Mar 6, 2008
Earlier research on T cells and psoriasis had suggested that another kind of T cell, the Th1 cell, was a primary factor in the disease ... 15, 2004) Dutch researcher Manon Franssen has shown that cells which heal the skin following an injury play an important role in the development of the skin disease psoriasis. (Science Daily)
Inverted DNA turns quiet developmental gene into a potent driver of t-cell lymphoma Feb 28, 2008
Unfortunately, in white blood cells, such as T cells, Dlx5 moves to a region of DNA involved in the genetic rearrangement that allows immune cells to switch genes around in order to create new combinations of proteins to respond to disease threats. This recombination process allows B cells to generate antibodies and T cells to generate T cell receptors, enabling the immune system to recognize an enormous array of foreign bacteria, viruses and parasites ... In a mouse model of T cell lymphoma,... (EurekAlert!)
Immune Response Dramatically Boosted With Engineered Artificial 'Cells' Feb 27, 2008
26, 2008) Using artificial cell-like particles, Yale biomedical engineers have devised a rapid and efficient way to produce a 45-fold enhancement of T cell activation and expansion, an immune response important for a patient's ability to fight cancer and infectious diseases, according to an advance on line report in Molecular Therapy ... Cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases have responded to immunotherapy that boosts a patient's own antigen-specific T cells. (Science Daily)
Immune System Reactivated In Adults With HIV Feb 22, 2008
Despite effective therapy, they still had an unusually low number of "CD4" T-cells, a type of T cell that is essential for normal immune function ... "The findings of this study are exciting," said senior author Joseph M. McCune, a Professor of Medicine at UCSF, "and dispel the previously-held notion that the thymus cannot be summoned into action later in life. If these findings bear out in larger studies, this news should be of particular interest to those in need of new T-cells, for instance,... (Science Daily)
Protein In Deer Tick Saliva Prevents HIV-1 From Attaching To T Cells Feb 19, 2008
19, 2008) The HIV-1 virus cripples the human immune system by targeting white blood cells called T cells that form the body s first line of defense in fighting infections. A recent study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that a protein found in the saliva of deer ticks prevents the HIV-1 virus from attaching to the surface of T cells, which is the critical first step in the virus attack strategy ... Since the protein suppresses the action of T cells, it may also... (Science Daily)
Experimental HIV Vaccine Gets A Boost From '70s-era Discovery Feb 18, 2008
So Steinman, research associate Christine Trumpfheller, and their colleagues went looking for something they could use to amplify their vaccine and elicit an innate immune reaction from the body s T cells ... This paper is the first evidence that you can get strong T cell immunity using poly-IC as an adjuvant, Steinman says ... The study showed that adding poly-IC to their dendritic cell vaccine initiated a strong immune reaction in mice, in which their T cells grew and produced protective... (Science Daily)
HIV persists in the gut despite long-term HIV therapy Feb 14, 2008
One important reservoir is the gut, where HIV causes much of its damage due to the large number of HIV target cells that reside there. These cells, known as CD4+ T cells, are largely contained in lymph nodes and patches of lymphocytes that collectively are called gut-associated lymphoid tissue, or GALT. ... Sensitive tests, however, detected the persistence of HIV as well as lowered CD4+ T cell levels in the GALT that did not completely rebound in response to therapy. (EurekAlert!)
