Not exact matches
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy will focus
on the emerging field
of cancer immunotherapy, which harnesses the body's
immune system to fight cancer
cells.
Hoping to learn something about how the human body defends itself against cancer, he had zeroed in
on a complex regiment
of lymphocytes called T
cells, common to the
immune systems in both mouse and man.
It's a type
of cancer immunotherapy, which harnesses the body's
immune system to take
on cancer
cells.
This is the group
of genes which act as the
immune system markers
on cells, protecting them from being attacked by the
system's anti-bodies.
The old episode
on the
immune system took us into the blood vessels and showed us the drama
of white blood
cells marking strep bacteria for death, then engulfing and digesting them.
Psoriasis (Ps) and psoriatic (so - rye - AT - ick) arthritis (PsA) are conditions
of the
immune system that affect the normal production
of healthy skin
cells on the body.
A decade ago a drug based
on an internal protein
of the flu virus, called NP (for nucleoprotein), set the
immune system's killer T
cells into action, but it only partially protected mice from the flu.
«Chronic inflammation
of the intestine is thought to be caused by abnormal interactions between gut microbes, intestinal epithelial
cells and the
immune system, but so far it has been impossible to determine how each
of these factors contribute to the development
of intestinal bowel disease,» said Hyun Jung Kim, Ph.D., former Wyss Technology Development Fellow and first author
on the study, speaking about the limitations
of conventional in vitro and animal models
of bacterial overgrowth and inflammation
of the intestines.
Moreover, in the aftermath
of surgery, the
immune system concentrates most
of its efforts
on healing the surgical wound, lowering its guard against cancer
cells.
As might be expected
of an autoimmune disease, where the
immune system turns
on healthy tissue, all the genes play a role in controlling the growth and multiplication
of cells in the
immune system.
The
immune system depends
on molecules called T
cell receptors
on the surface
of T
cells to recognize and respond to foreign antigens from virus - infected
cells, tumors and other threats.
Dr Tomi Pastinen, senior author
on the second study, from McGill University said: «We have created an expansive, high - resolution atlas
of variations that deepens our understanding
of the interplay between the genetic and epigenetic machinery that drives the three primary
cells of the human
immune system.
In effect, PD - 1 may actually help to preserve a «reserve force»
of T
cells that can fight
on later in the long - term cellular war between the
immune system and foreign invaders or tumors.
The protein puts the
immune system's brakes
on, keeping its T
cells from recognizing and attacking cancer
cells, said Dr. Antoni Ribas, the study's principal investigator and a professor
of medicine in the division
of hematology - oncology at the David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA.
The removal
of these components might be expected to unleash an assault by the
immune system on cancer
cells left after surgery.
«Suppressing a progenitor from creating the subtype
of dendritic
cells implicated in causing lupus, for example, could be an efficient way
of treating autoimmune diseases while minimising the impact
on the rest
of the
immune system.
The researchers found that production
of this mucus lining depends upon a single
immune system regulator — the NLRP6 inflammasome — that controls mucus secretion by
cells in the wall
of the intestine, just like turning
on a faucet.
«We hypothesized that individual mutations in viral genes could be expected to have a range
of effects
on the virus's ability to replicate, to infect new
cells and escape the
immune system,» Carlson says.
In this study, the SIgN team discovered for the first time that the integrity
of p53 affects the production
of a special
cell surface protein called Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I. MHC class I molecules
on the cancer
cell surface serve as targets for the
immune system.
Patients with metastatic non-small
cell lung cancer will always progress after chemotherapy, so most patients go
on to be treated with immunotherapy, a type
of therapy that uses the body's
immune system to fight cancer.
George Klinman, an FDA immunologist and lead author
of the report, speculates that dangling the protein in front
of the
immune system in an unusual setting —
on a muscle
cell — might be what triggers the inappropriate response.
In a study published in the journal Science, an international collaboration
of investigators from Dana - Farber, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, and the University
of Strasbourg uncovered a mechanism that allows key
immune system cells to keep a steady rein
on their more belligerent brother
cells, thereby protecting normal, healthy tissue from assault.
Together, the two studies advance the idea that gut microbes play a role in turning the
immune system against nerve
cells, causing MS.. It will take a lot more work to develop cures or preventive strategies based
on that, but the research raises the intriguing possibility
of treating an often - devastating disease with something as low - tech as fecal transplants or probiotics.
What they discovered was that an inflammatory factor known as TGF - beta (transforming growth factor - beta) can give cancer
cells properties
of immune cells by supplying the surface
of the cancer
cell with a receptor that normally only exists
on the white blood
cells that travel through the lymphatic
system.
One advantage
of this method is that it only activates a certain type
of immune cell, the dendritic
cell or T -
cell, and only in one part
of the body, near the draining lymph nodes or tumor, which helps cut down
on the
system - wide side effects often seen with chemotherapy.
The
system, says Brahmer, provides a kind
of «handshake» or connection between receptors
on immune cells, called PD - 1, and their sister - proteins
on tumor
cells, called PD - L1.
By releasing the brakes that tumor
cells place
on the
immune system, researchers are developing a new generation
of more powerful treatments against malignancy
EMD Serono, Kirschbaum says, «focuses
on the development
of targeted cancer therapies
on three therapeutic platforms: targeting the tumor
cell, the tumor environment, and the
immune system.»
Researchers are developing many different versions
of CAR - T
cell therapies, but the basic premise is the same: Doctors remove a patient's T
cells (
immune system cells that attack invaders) from a blood sample and genetically modify them to produce artificial proteins
on their surfaces.
The drug blocks CTLA - 4, a protein receptor
on the surface
of T -
cells that serves as a molecular stop sign, preventing the
immune system from going into overdrive.
What's more, the studies suggest how our gut microbes make the
immune system turn against nerve
cells — a finding that could lead to treatments, like drugs based
on microbial byproducts, that might improve the course
of the disease.
Patients received a tandem
of lenalidomide, a drug that kills tumor
cells, blocks blood vessel growth, and acts
on the
immune system, and dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory agent, plus one
of three new agents:
Although some cancers — particularly those that are rife with mutations like lung cancer or melanoma — create more tangible targets
on the surface
of cells for the
immune system to recognize and attack, other malignancies such as prostate and pancreatic cancers have proved more intransigent.
On encountering the TB bacillus, receptors on immune - system scavenger cells known as macrophages stimulate the conversion of circulating vitamin D to its active form, which produces a peptide that destroys the bacillu
On encountering the TB bacillus, receptors
on immune - system scavenger cells known as macrophages stimulate the conversion of circulating vitamin D to its active form, which produces a peptide that destroys the bacillu
on immune -
system scavenger
cells known as macrophages stimulate the conversion
of circulating vitamin D to its active form, which produces a peptide that destroys the bacillus.
Interferons are molecules produced by
cells in response to viral or bacterial infection, and which act
on neighboring
cells to prevent the spread
of the infection, shut down protein synthesis, and activate the
immune system.
Most importantly, the doxorubicin - decorated diamonds had no effect
on white blood
cell count, an indicator
of immune system activation that's often the deciding factor in whether a patient can continue chemotherapy.
Previous studies have found evidence that IL - 27 has a moderating effect
on the Th2 response, and in general, keeps T -
cells — the «battle tanks»
of the
immune system — from causing too much damage.
The patients received biweekly infusions
of nivolumab, which is an antibody that blocks a protein called PD - 1
on the surface
of immune system T
cells.
To investigate this further, the research team led by Dr. Ali Önder Yildirim, Dr. Gerrit John - Schuster and Prof. Dr. Oliver Eickelberg at the CPC studied the influence
of cells of the
immune system on the development
of COPD.
Scientists have focused instead
on the other branch
of the
immune system which marshals an army
of specialised
cells, such as killer T
cells, against invaders.
A healthy gut depends
on a balance
of inflammatory and tolerant T
cells, which make up part
of the adaptive
immune system.
Prof. Mandelboim and his research collaborators found that the NKp46 receptor present
on Natural Killer or NK
cells (an essential part
of the
immune system) play a critical role in the development
of the disease in mice.
To alter the stem
cells, Kan's team turned to the CRISPR - Cas9
system, a super-efficient method
of genome editing based
on an ancient bacterial «
immune system».
The drug's mechanism
of action was entirely new: Instead
of attacking cancer
cells (like chemo), or indiscriminately revving up the
immune system (like IL - 2), ipilimumab blocked a single receptor
on one type
of immune cell.
To alter the stem
cells, Kan's team turned to the CRISPR - Cas9
system, a method
of genome editing based
on a bacterial «
immune system».
New technologies are coming to the fore that allow interrogation
of the types
of cells interacting with tumors, in particular providing intelligence
on the broad variety
of complex associations between tumor
cells and the
immune system.
But if a person's
immune cells hover
on the verge
of hyperactivity, cytomegalovirus could push the
system into danger.
In a report
on their experiments, published April 2017 in the Proceedings
of The National Academy
of Sciences, the researchers say they found evidence that microglia, a
cell type found in most vertebrae innate
immune systems, affect the Müller glia's regenerative response and can be harnessed to accelerate the growth
of new tissue in the retina.
The study included 124 newly diagnosed patients at 25 clinical trial sites in the U.S. Two - thirds
of the patients were treated with ICT - 107, an experimental vaccine based
on immune system cells called dendritic
cells that were exposed to six synthetic proteins, or antigens, known to be involved in GBM development.
They looked specifically for genes coding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-- a molecule found
on the surface
of cells that acts as a crucial component
of the
immune systems of most vertebrates.