Antibiotic-resistant bacteria inside a biofilm. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com Chris Waters, Michigan State University Maybe you’ve had the experience of wading in a stream and struggling to keep your balance on the slick rocks, or forgetting to brush your teeth in the morning and feeling a slimy coating in your mouth. These are examples of bacterial biofilms that are found anywhere a surface is exposed to bacteria in a moist environment. Besides
Controlling Immune System Fuel Puts the Brakes on Macrophage Damage When tissue is damaged, one of the body’s first inflammatory immune-system responders are macrophages, cells which are commonly thought of as “construction workers” that clear away damaged tissue debris and initiate repair. However, prolonged inflammation promotes the progression of many diseases, including obesity. Now, a common class of drugs used to treat diabetes has been found to exert a powerful
A prospective new method of treating patients with multiple sclerosis has been proposed by researchers of the Mainz University Medical Center working in cooperation with researchers of the University of Montreal. In model trials and experiments employing human endothelial cells, they discovered that the EGFL7 protein hinders the migration of immune cells into the central nervous system by stabilizing the blood-brain barrier. These findings have recently been published in Nature
(Reuters) - Celgene Corp announced a $9 billion cash buyout of Juno Therapeutics Inc on Monday as it moves to cement its position as a key player in a new range of cancer therapies. The offer of $87 per share for the 90 percent of Juno that Celgene does not own sent Juno’s stock soaring 27 percent to $86.31 in premarket trading. Shares of Celgene fell 1 percent to $101.60. The two
The immune system is constantly performing surveillance to detect foreign organisms that might do harm. But pathogens, for their part, have evolved a number of strategies to evade this detection, such as secreting proteins that hinder a host's ability to mount an immune response. In a new study, a team of researchers led by Igor E. Brodsky of the University of Pennsylvania, identified a "back-up alarm" system in host cells
Specific immune cells have the ability to produce a healing factor that can promote wound repair in the intestine, a finding that could lead to new, potential therapeutic treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new research study. The research team, led by Georgia State University and the University of Michigan, wanted to understand how a wound heals in the intestine because in IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease
One of the main reasons cancer remains difficult to treat is that cancer cells have developed a multitude of mechanisms that allow them to evade destruction by the immune system. One of these escape mechanisms involves a type of immune cell called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). A recent study led by Sharon Evans, PhD, Professor of Oncology and Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, provides new insight into how MDSCs
The cornerstone of genetics is the loss-of-function experiment. In short, this means that to figure out what exactly gene X is doing in a tissue of interest—be it developing brain cells or a pancreatic tumor—you somehow cut out, switch off or otherwise destroy gene X in that tissue and then watch what happens. That genetic litmus test has been applied since before people even knew the chemical DNA is what
The fates of immune cells can be decided at the initial division of a cell. Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered that the production of daughter cells with different roles in the immune system is driven by the lopsided distribution of the signaling protein c-Myc. Nudging c-Myc in one direction or the other could make vaccines more effective or advance immunotherapies for cancer treatment. The research appears
