Vaccine-induced macrophages survive chemotherapy

Vaccine-induced macrophages open a new realm of study into remodeling the immune system to reduce the risk of infections during cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy wipes out cancerous cells and dividing normal cells alike, often particularly damaging those in bone marrow that produce white blood cells. As a patient’s immune system is weakened, even minor infections can become life-threatening. Researchers are exploring ways to circumvent this problem by “remodeling” the immune system prior to chemotherapy.

Unlike other immune cells, these vaccine-induced macrophages from a mouse’s lung manage to withstand chemotherapy treatment.

The future plan is to induce lung tissue [immune] remodeling to compensate for bone marrow suppression after chemotherapy.” Immunology researcher Sandro Vento of Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan pointed out in an email to The Scientist that the animal-model work is only preliminary.

Read more:
Newly Found White Blood Cell Withstands Chemotherapy

Source: The Scientist Magazine®

New method to restore function of white blood cells in septic patients

New research findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, suggest that treating the white blood cells of sepsis patients with antibodies that block programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand (PD-L1) molecules may restore their function and ultimately their ability to eradicate deadly bacteria.

"We hope that this study will lead to a better understanding of why patients with sepsis are often unable to successfully eradicate invading microorganisms," said author Andriani C. Patera, Ph.D. "Furthermore, we hope that this study will stimulate new therapies to treat sepsis based on stimulating various components of the immune system."

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Scientists discover new method to restore function of white blood cells in septic patients

Source: EurekAlert! Science News

Blood Eosinophil Level Predicts Severity of Asthma

Asthma represents a significant clinical and economic burden to the US healthcare system. Along with other clinical manifestations of the disease, elevated sputum and blood eosinophil levels are observed in patients experiencing asthma exacerbations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between blood eosinophil levels and asthma severity defined using Expert Panel Report 3 guidelines.

Among 1,144 patients with an asthma diagnosis, 60 % were classified as having moderate-to-severe asthma. Twenty four percent of patients with moderate-to-severe asthma and 19 % of patients with mild asthma had an elevated peripheral eosinophil count (p = 0.053). Logistic regression showed that moderate-to-severe asthma was associated with 38 % increased odds of elevated eosinophil level (OR 1.38, 95 % CI: 1.02 to 1.86, p = 0.04).

Patients with moderate-severe asthma are significantly more likely to have an elevated peripheral eosinophil count than patients with mild asthma

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Blood Eosinophil Markers to Predict Severity of Asthma

Source: Medscape

Antibody Personality Quiz

 Which antibony are you?


Open Quiz here:
Antibodies

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific

Scientists identify a virus and two bacteria that could be causing Alzheimer's

An international group of 31 Alzheimer's researchers has published an editorial urging the science world to change its focus when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. The message is clear - after a decade of failed attempts to treat and prevent the disease, it's time to reassess the evidence that Alzheimer's could be spread by microbes.

Study says that the first microbes we should investigate are the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), the chlamydia bacteria, and spirochaetes.

So how could viruses and bacteria trigger Alzheimer's disease? Well, we still don't really know, which is one of the reasons research has stalled in this area, but the herpes virus is already known to damage the nervous system, and microbial infections are known to inflammation around the body, which is a characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Of course, the issue is not as clear-cut as the editorial makes it out to be - if it was, we'd already know how to fix the disease. And most importantly, experts are urging people not to freak out about the implication that Alzheimer's could be 'caught'.

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Scientists identify a virus and two bacteria that could be causing Alzheimer's

Source: ScienceAlert

Quality Improvement in the Identification of Crystals from Synovial Fluid

It has been well studied and accepted that the best method for evaluating joint disease is examination of synovial fluid. Synovial fluid analysis is critical to establish a definite diagnosis, whether the patient has a septic joint or a crystal arthropathy. Our study aims at studying the consistency of crystal identification between the Rheumatology department and the hospital laboratories as well as identifying the factors contributing to the misidentification of crystals.

The sensitivity for the detection of any crystals by the faculty was found to be 0.92, while for the laboratory it was 0.66. The sensitivity of MSU crystal detection by the faculty was 0.89 and by the laboratory, 0.74. Similar results were seen for the detection of CPP crystals by the Rheumatologists with the sensitivity being 0.90, while the laboratory’s sensitivity was much less, only at 0.57.

The results of our study are consistent with previous studies showing that there are still discrepancies in synovial fluid analysis. Many factors may be contributing to these variations including observer error, differences in time spent examining the fluid, technician training and crystal concentration. When analyzed separately, not all of our findings reached statistical significance, but when examined together, statistical significance was met. We believe that this study has profound clinical significance. Errors in crystal detection can have serious impacts on disease management and patient care.

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Quality Improvement in the Identification of Crystals from Synovial Fluid: Hospital Laboratory Versus Rheumatology Department Evaluation

Rheumatology image library

(Click image to enlarge)

Source: : ACR Meeting Abstracts

Influenza viruses can hide from the immune system

Influenza is able to mask itself, so that the virus is not initially detected by our immune system. This is the result of new research from Aarhus University. The researchers behind the study hope that the discovery can be used to develop better treatment against influenza and chronic inflammation conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Some years ago researchers discovered that the immune system can already track viruses and alert the body as soon as a virus enters human cells to multiply. But new research now reveals that the influenza virus cheats the mechanism and is thus able to circumvent the body's advanced defence system.

"The virus contains a protein that masks the virus entering the cell. In this way, the influenza virus can spread more easily before the immune system recognises that it is a virus and attempts to fight it," says Associate Professor Christian Holm from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University.''

Together with Professor Søren R. Paludan, he has headed the research project, which has also comprised contributions from other researchers at Aarhus University and from a number of American universities. Their discovery has recently been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

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Influenza virus can hide from the immune system

Source: Aarhus University

Dying Epithelial Cells Regulate the Immune System

A University of Tsukuba-based research team has shown that commensal bacteria in the gut can induce dendritic cells to release interferon-ß, which promotes Treg cell proliferation. However, apoptotic epithelial cells can inhibit this path through phosphatidylserine on their surfaces, which interacts with CD300a on dendritic cells and stops their production of interferon-ß. In this way, apoptotic epithelial cells can modulate the level of Treg cells.

This latest work builds on previous studies that have shown that beneficial bacteria, known as commensals, can modulate tissue status, including the effect they have on Treg cells. These cells are known to regulate immune activity, but details on this mechanism have never been clear. This issue is especially significant at barrier surfaces, such as in the gastrointestinal tract, where large numbers of epithelial cells detach and die via apoptosis. Prior to this study, it had also been unclear whether these dying cells had any particular effects.

Through a range of experiments, the research group showed that these dying, or apoptotic, cells in fact work to suppress proliferation of Treg cells. This is normally promoted by beneficial bacteria in the gut. The group also specifically identified the molecules involved—information that could be useful for treating diseases in which Treg cells are involved or are dysfunctional.

Read more:
Dying Epithelial Cells Regulate the Immune System: Finding Could Aid Treatment of Inflammatory and Allergic Diseases

Source: Alpha Galileo

The Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis

There is now a general consensus that RA has a spectrum of disease stages that can begin many years before the onset of clinical symptoms. It is widely thought that understanding the complex interplay between genetics and environment, and their role in pathogenesis, is essential in gaining further insight into the mechanisms that drive disease development and progression. More than 100 genetic susceptibility loci have now been identified for RA through studies that have focused on patients with established RA compared with healthy controls. Studying the early preclinical phases of disease will provide valuable insights into the biological events that precede disease and could potentially identify biomarkers to predict disease onset and future therapeutic targets. In this review we will cover recent advances in the knowledge of genetic and environmental risk factors and speculate on how these factors may influence the transition from one stage of disease to another.

Read more:
The Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Source: Medscape

Autoimmunity

Wonders of immunology

APOBEC, a defense protein that causes cancer

Cancer is caused by the growth of an abnormal cell which harbours DNA mutations, "copy errors" occurring during the DNA replication process. If these errors do take place quite regularly without having any damaging effect on the organism, some of them affect a specific part of the genome and cause the proliferation of the mutant cell, which then invades the organism. A few years ago, scientists have identified an important mutagen which lies in our own cells: APOBEC, a protein that usually functions as protecting agent against viral infection. Today, a team of Swiss and Russian scientists led by Sergey Nikolaev, geneticist at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has deciphered how APOBEC takes advantage of a weakness in our DNA replication process to induce mutations in our genome. To be read in Genome Research.

Read more:
A defense protein that causes cancer 

Read more: EurekAlert! Science News

Autoimmune

Autoimmune disorders in a nutshell


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Autoimmune 

Source: Beatrice the biologist

How Malaria Fools Our Immune System

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) reconstructed the 3D structure of one of the proteins of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria and the antibodies that act as the first line of defense against the parasite. This research, published in Cell Reports, was conducted at the Structural Cellular Biology Unit, led by Prof. Ulf Skoglund. This study provides valuable knowledge for the design of anti-malaria drugs.

One strategy used by the pathogen to amplify its spreading probability is the formation of rosette-shaped clusters of uninfected erythrocytes surrounding a malaria-infected red blood cell. Since the parasite in the central cell of the rosette can easily infect the surrounding cells, the rosette enhances the infection. Moreover, rosetting is associated with severe malaria and high fever. In small blood vessels big rosettes bind to the walls of the capillaries, obstructing the normal blood flow, causing the body to react with high fever. Since children and elderly people have thinner capillaries, they are at higher risk of severe malaria.

Malaria-infected red blood cells (RBC) express the pathogen protein PfEMP1 on their surface. IgM  and PfEMP1 form a bouquet that makes the cell more infectious and more prone to attract other still-uninfected red blood cells. Moreover, the other immune system proteins (such as the complement, C1q) are not able to be recruited and kill the infected cell.

Read more:
How Malaria Fools Our Immune System



Source: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST

Leukocytes attacking a parasite

Please take the time to give your white blood cells a great big mental hug. They deserve it.


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This is what your immune response looks like 

Source: Science Alert

How does a killer T cell kill its target?

Cambridge university´s new film captures the behaviour of cytotoxic T cells,  the body’s ‘serial killers’, as they hunt down and eliminate cancer cells before moving on to their next target.

Watch the original video
Killer T Cell: The Cancer Assassin

T cell (red) attacking cancer cell (blue).  

Source: YouTube, Cambridge university

Immune Cell Memory

Following genetically marked donor memory T cells infused into hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients, a team led by researchers at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy, found that two types of less-differentiated memory T cells can persist for up to 14 years. The team’s results, published December 9 in Science Translational Medicine, demonstrate that the survival of these immune cells depends on the type of memory T cells initially introduced into patients, and whether these cells continue to encounter antigens over time.

Read more:
Long-Lived Immune Memories 

Source: TheScientist
Image credits: National Science Institute
 

Novel role of mitochondria identified in immune function

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a new role for an enzyme involved in cell death. Their study shows how the enzyme, called RIPK3, relays signals between the cell’s mitochondria “powerhouses” and the immune system. The new study shows that this crosstalk is important not only for launching immune responses against tumors, but also for regulating the inflammatory responses that may result in autoimmune diseases.

“This finding could be helpful for developing strategies to target cancer and inflammatory diseases.”

Read more:
News Release

 Source: Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI)

Unique bacterial fingerprint identified in systemic sclerosis

The results of a study presented 13 June, 2015 at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have  a unique bacterial signature in their colon, when compared with healthy people. These findings suggest that in the gut ecology could contribute to the clinical symptoms of  SSc, and could be used to diagnose the condition, and in the development of alternative treatments.

Read more:
Final_Systemic_sclerosis_is_associated_with_a_unique_colonic_microbial_consortium_OP0213.pdf

 Source: EULAR2015

Cells of the human immunen system

An immune response is generally divided into innate and adaptive immunity. Innate immunity occurs immediately, when circulating innate cells recognize a problem. Adaptive immunity occurs later, as it relies on the coordination and expansion of specific adaptive immune cells. Immune memory follows the adaptive response, when mature adaptive cells, highly specific to the original pathogen, are retained for later use.

Granulocytes include basophils, eosinophils, and neutrophils. Basophils and eosinophils are important for host defense against parasites. They also are involved in allergic reactions. Neutrophils, the most numerous innate immune cell, patrol for problems by circulating in the bloodstream. They can phagocytose, or ingest, bacteria, degrading them inside special compartments called vesicles.

Read more:
Immune Cells

Source: National institute of allergy and infectious diseases

Americas region is declared the world’s first to eliminate rubella

The Americas region has become the first in the world to be declared free of endemic transmission of rubella, a contagious viral disease that can cause multiple birth defects as well as fetal death when contracted by women during pregnancy.

This achievement culminates a 15-year effort that involved widespread administration of the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) throughout the Western Hemisphere. The announcement comes as 45 countries and territories of the Americas are participating in the 13th annual Vaccination Week in the Americas (April 25 to May 2).

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Americas region is declared the world’s first to eliminate rubella

Source: WHO