Deep in the lungs, resident memory B cells stand guard against influenza reinfection—but whether they remain there may depend on how strongly they are signaled through their own receptors. New research using an animal model of influenza infection provi…
The advent of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the Nobel Prize–winning technology is being adapted to fight cancer, with mRNA vaccines in clinical trials for melanoma, small-cell lung cancer and…
Restricting calorie intake in species such as mice, rhesus monkeys, and fruit flies has been shown to extend their lifespans. In some cases, these animals not only live longer, but are also free of disease. But when pushed too far, calorie restriction …
Cancer risk increases with age and is often more aggressive and difficult to treat in older adults. However, fewer than 10% of mouse studies use aged animals, with most relying on mice roughly equivalent to humans in their early 20s. This discrepancy i…
UPMC and University of Pittsburgh clinician-scientists have weaned and kept multiple liver transplantation patients off of all immunosuppressant drugs for more than three years through a first-in-human clinical trial of a unique “immune priming” therapy.
The immune system acts as a critical sentinel of organismal aging, integrating the sensing of physiological states with the execution of defense and clearance functions. Immunosenescence not only reflects systemic functional decline but also serves as …
An innovative gene-editing strategy could establish a new way for the body to manufacture therapeutic proteins—including certain kinds of highly potent antibodies that are naturally difficult to produce—by reprogramming the immune system itself.
UCLA researchers have identified a rogue population of immune cells that quietly accumulates in aging tissues and in the livers of people with fatty liver disease. Clearing these cells, they found, dramatically reduced inflammation and reversed liver d…
The human immune system is finely tuned to detect and destroy viral threats. But this same defense system can misfire. When fragments of the body’s own damaged DNA are mistaken for viral invaders, the result is a powerful, misplaced inflammatory respon…
Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) show that active mitochondria maintain dendritic cells, the immune system’s sentinels, in a “ready-to-respond” state, linking cellular metabolism to gene regulatio…
