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VIDEO: In a new study, scientists from Japan have explored the potential role of TARM1 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis by analyzing mouse models. They found that TARM1 activated dendritic. view more
Credit: Tokyo University of Science
Autoimmune diseases are typically caused when the immune system, whose purpose is to deal with foreign threats to the body, incorrectly recognizes the body s own proteins and cells as threats and activates immune cells to attack them. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, a well-known autoimmune disease, immune cells erroneously attack the body s own joint components and proteins, causing painful inflammation and even the destruction of bone! Scientists from Japan have now taken a massive step toward understanding and, potentially, treating rheumatoid arthritis better, with their discovery in a brand-new study. Read on to understand how!
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IMAGE: Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, a professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University view more
Credit: Georgia State University
ATLANTA Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, a professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a four-year federal grant just over $2 million to study how inflammation and altered gut microbiota, the microorganisms living in the intestine, influence the development of a group of diseases referred to as metabolic syndrome.
Between 50 to 80 million Americans suffer from metabolic syndrome, an epidemic of interrelated obesity-associated disorders including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and hepatic steatosis (fatty liver). Many of these individuals will develop serious, costly diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver failure.
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VIDEO: These videos show a white blood cell creating a protrusion to reach out to a foreign body. view more
Credit: Julien Husson, LadHyX, CNRS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytec
Like a well-trained soldier, a white blood cell uses specialized abilities to identify and ultimately destroy dangerous intruders, including creating a protrusion to effectively reach out, lock-on, probe, and possibly attack its prey. Researchers reporting March 16 in
Biophysical Journal show in detail that these cells take seconds to morph into these highly rigid and viscous defensive units.
Senior author Julien Husson (@ julienhusson), a biophysicist at École Polytechnique near Paris, and collaborators showed previously that certain white blood cells, called T cells, can push and pull perceived threats via specialized connections. To exert such forces, a cell must reorganize its internal structure, making itself more rigid. In the current study, Husson s team devised a m
A significant proportion of hospitalized patients with influenza develop complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Reporting in The American Journal of Pathology investigators have found that treatment with an immune receptor blocker in combination with an antiviral agent markedly improves survival of mice infected with lethal influenza and reduces lung pathology in swine-influenza-infected piglets. Their research also provides insights into the optimal timing of treatment to prevent acute lung injury.
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IMAGE: A clinician with the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Project Clinical Research Center administers an injection to a participant of a comparative adjuvant trial, RV460. view more
Credit: U.S. Military HIV Research Program
SILVER SPRING, Md. - A new Phase 1 vaccine study began today that will evaluate experimental prime/boost HIV-1 vaccine regimens formulated with combinations of different adjuvants, including one from the Army Liposome Formulation (ALF) family of adjuvants developed by scientists with the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
An adjuvant is a component of a vaccine that can help make it more effective by improving the immune response or causing the immune response to last longer. The goal of the new trial, RV460, is to evaluate whether an adjuvant can improve immune response to the antigens in the candidate vaccines. It will also help characterize the differences between the