Ancient embedded elements in our DNA from generations past can activate a powerful immune response to kill cancer cells like an infection. The work builds on Princess Margaret Senior Scientist Dr. De Carvalho’s previous ground-breaking discovery known as viral mimicry— the ability to cause cancer cells to behave as though they have been infected, thereby […]
Imagine you’ve just arrived in Paris. Your body thinks it should be midnight—a restorative time when your cells typically proofread DNA, organize and store energy, and perform other essential chores—but, instead, the sun is up and you’re awake. On a molecular level, your cells are stressed, trying to catch up to new environmental conditions. Shiftwork […]
Athletes understand that there are two very different approaches that can be taken when training their bodies. For example, lifting heavy weights is a great way to achieve maximum strength. In contrast, low-load high-repetition training is ideal for developing the stamina required for endurance sports. Remarkably, our immune system can be trained in a somewhat […]
A Phase 1 trial of an investigational mRNA vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection has shown that the vaccine is well-tolerated and generates a strong immune response in older adults. A report published today in the New England Journal of Medicine describes the findings from the study, which was supported by the National Institute of Allergy […]
Researchers have uncovered how the immune system is altered in a rare COVID-19 related illness in children referred to as paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS). PIMS-TS is a rare syndrome which has emerged in a small number of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The condition causes severe inflammation in blood vessels and can lead to […]
An immunomodulatory drug called fingolimod, which is approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, blocks human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and transmission in human immune cells, according to a study published August 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Postdoctoral Fellow Rachel Resop and Assistant Professor Alberto Bosque of The George Washington University, and […]
One of the immune system’s oldest branches, called complement, may be influencing the severity of COVID-19 disease, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Among other findings linking complement to COVID, the researchers found that people with age-related macular degeneration—a disorder caused by overactive complement—are at greater risk of […]
A study has revealed that tumors can evade the immune system by telling immune cells to produce immunosuppressive steroids. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, and MRC Cancer Unit, discovered that immune T cells from mouse skin and breast tumors secrete steroids, and that preventing this steroid production reduced […]
In the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, more than 28,000 people were infected, causing over 11,000 deaths. While the long-term health impacts on survivors are still poorly understood, an increasing number of studies describe persistent clinical after-effects in these patients, such as generalized fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and eye disorders. To pinpoint these health problems, […]
Mobile medical microrobots can now be engineered in the lab for broad ranging applications from personalized disease treatment to targeted drug delivery. During their structural design, bioengineers aim to minimize physical interactions with cells of the immune system by optimizing the morphology (shape) of the device and its surface chemistry. It is therefore important to […]
