A simple RNA molecule jumpstarts the immune system’s “first responders” to viral infection and can even eradicate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in mice with chronic cases of COVID-19, a new Yale School of Medicine study finds. The molecule, known as SLR14, is a simple, easy to manufacture, loop of RNA that can trigger the production of […]
Johns Hopkins University engineers are the first to use a non-invasive optical probe to understand the complex changes in tumors after immunotherapy, a treatment that harnesses the immune system to fight cancer. Their method combines detailed mapping of the biochemical composition of tumors with machine learning. "Immunotherapy really works like magic and has fundamentally changed […]
Every person appears to have a completely unique immune system. Researchers from Utrecht University discovered this immune diversity after mapping antibodies from healthy and sick individuals. The discovery could help explain why, for example, corona vaccines appear to be less effective for some people. The way our immune system responds to pathogens varies from person […]
An immune cell subset called innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) protects against colorectal cancer, in part by helping to maintain a healthy dialog between the immune system and gut microbes, according to a new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. The finding opens the door to new strategies for treating this type […]
Advanced technologies have been used to solve a long-standing mystery about why some people develop serious illness when they are infected with the malaria parasite, while others carry the infection asymptomatically. An international team used mass cytometry—an in-depth way of characterizing individual cells—and machine learning to discover ‘immune signatures’ associated with symptomatic or asymptomatic infections […]
The presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood can boost the effects of daily cannabis use and heighten the risk of developing psychosis in adulthood. Similar results have been observed, also in the presence of cytokines, when cannabis is used during adolescence. Psychotic disorders include symptoms such as delirium, loss of a sense of reality, […]
Groundbreaking research from Tel Aviv University may lead to a significant breakthrough in the battle against deadly brain cancer. To begin with, the researchers identified a failure in the brain’s immune system, leading to the amplification of cell division and spread of Glioblastoma cancer cells. The failure results partially from the secretion of a protein […]
Consciously changing the way you breathe has been shown to reduce stress, increase alertness and even improve your immune system. Inhale, exhale, repeat. Inhale through your nose for five counts. Hold your breath in for five counts. Exhale through your nose for five counts. How do you feel? Relaxed? Calm? Perhaps, even more alert? Breathing […]
Serious complications due to blood clots, such as heart attacks and strokes, that are experienced by some COVID-19 survivors may be caused by a lingering immune response in the blood vessels after recovery, suggests a study published today in eLife. The findings may help explain why some COVID-19 survivors, so-called ‘long-haulers’, report lasting COVID-19 symptoms […]
The vast majority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 clear the virus, but those with compromised immunity—such as individuals receiving immune-suppressive drugs for autoimmune diseases—can become chronically infected. As a result, their weakened immune defenses continue to attack the virus without being able to eradicate it fully. This physiological tug-of-war between human host and pathogen offers […]
