What happens when your immune system hijacks your brain
“My year of unraveling” is how a despairing Christy Morrill described nightmarish months when his immune system hijacked his brain.
Immunology
Not all immune cells are created equal: Memory T cells in tissues outlast those in blood
Memory T cells are a special type of white blood cell that “remember” past infections and vaccines, helping our bodies to quickly respond if we encounter the same germs again. These cells are found throughout the body: some circulate in the blood, whil…
Macrophage-killing bacterial toxin weakens the gut’s defenses against ulcerative colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the most common inflammatory bowel diseases, a lifelong condition that can cause chronic inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the large intestine. This can lead to symptoms such as rectal pain and bleeding, and per…
Nasal nanomedicine delivers immune-boosting therapy to fight brain tumors
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, along with collaborators at Northwestern University, have developed a noninvasive approach to treat one of the most aggressive and deadly brain cancers. Their technology uses precise…
Hidden immune cells linked to early type 1 diabetes detected in lymph nodes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) impacts nearly two million Americans, and by the time most people learn they have it, most of the body’s insulin-producing cells are destroyed. Now, pinpointing a hidden group of immune “attack” cells in the pancreatic lymph nodes…
How T cells transform to defend our organs
We owe a lot to tissue resident memory T cells (TRM). These specialized immune cells are among the body’s first responders to disease.
Macrophages can act like neurons for faster muscle injury repair, study finds
At the cellular level, the mechanics of how muscle tissue repair occurs gets complicated. There are significant differences between, say, tearing a muscle in a sports injury versus muscle tissue wasting away from diseases like muscular dystrophy.
Two first-in-class antibodies can inhibit inflammation in autoimmune diseases
An international research group directed by UMC Utrecht has developed and characterized two first-in-class antibodies that specifically block the high-affinity IgG receptor FcγRI. Their findings open new perspectives for therapeutic modulation of FcγRI…
How the gut builds long-lasting immunity after viral infections
A new study led by University of Toronto researchers has shown that immune cells in the gut follow an atypical pathway to produce antibodies that provide long-term protection against viruses.
Aging spleen creates toxic environment that forces T cells into self-protective but weakened state, study shows
Researchers at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology Faculty of Biology have identified a unique mechanism involved in the aging of the immune system—along with a framework for enhancing its function in older individuals. The study, published in …