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Mystery Rays from Outer Space
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- April 14, 2009
- 07:29 AM
- 911 views
Tumor immunity: The Goldilocks approach
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
We know that the immune system can destroy tumors. We also know, unfortunately, that by the time we see a tumor, immunity probably won’t destroy the tumor. There are lots of reasons for that. One is that tumors are essentially part of the normal body, so it’s normal for the immune system [...]... Read more »
Rizzuto, G., Merghoub, T., Hirschhorn-Cymerman, D., Liu, C., Lesokhin, A., Sahawneh, D., Zhong, H., Panageas, K., Perales, M., Altan-Bonnet, G.... (2009) Self-antigen-specific CD8 T cell precursor frequency determines the quality of the antitumor immune response. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 206(4), 849-866. DOI: 10.1084/jem.20081382
- April 9, 2009
- 10:10 AM
- 835 views
Why are different tumors the same?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Hierarchical clustering of breast carcinomas1
Something that’s puzzled me for years is why the same kinds of tumors tend to have the same kinds of immune evasion mechanisms. And I’m not going to give an answer, just trying to share the confusion a little.
What I mean is this:
It has been demonstrated that human tumors of distinct [...]... Read more »
Seliger, B. (2008) Molecular mechanisms of MHC class I abnormalities and APM components in human tumors. Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, 57(11), 1719-1726. DOI: 10.1007/s00262-008-0515-4
- April 6, 2009
- 06:42 AM
- 1,552 views
Inflammation and cancer: Proof that the universe hates us?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Metchnikov: “Lecons sur la pathologie” (1892)
There are times when you just feel like the universe is out to get you. For example, we know that inflammation can drive tumor formation; but a paper just came out that suggests reducing inflammation can also drive tumor formation. 1 It doesn’t seem fair.
I’ve previously mentioned the [...]... Read more »
Granville, C., Memmott, R., Balogh, A., Mariotti, J., Kawabata, S., Han, W., LoPiccolo, J., Foley, J., Liewehr, D., Steinberg, S.... (2009) A Central Role for Foxp3 Regulatory T Cells in K-Ras-Driven Lung Tumorigenesis. PLoS ONE, 4(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005061
- March 27, 2009
- 09:26 AM
- 974 views
On diversity in rhinoviruses
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Human rhinoviruses (HRV) are tiny, highly variable viruses that are one of the main causes of the common cold. Stephen Liggett’s group has analyzed all 99 human rhinovirus genomes in the ATCC and come up with all kinds of fascinating insights. 1
How diverse are HRV? What maintains diversity or lack of [...]... Read more »
Palmenberg, A., Spiro, D., Kuzmickas, R., Wang, S., Djikeng, A., Rathe, J., Fraser-Liggett, C., & Liggett, S. (2009) Sequencing and Analyses of All Known Human Rhinovirus Genomes Reveals Structure and Evolution. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1165557
- March 26, 2009
- 09:36 AM
- 845 views
HIV escape, one-on-one
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
It’s well known that HIV mutates rapidly in infected patients in order to escape from the immune system. The mutations in HIV track with the peptides that bind to MHC class I in any particular patient. When the virus is transmitted to a new patient, though, those mutations don’t help it much, because [...]... Read more »
Schmid, B., Keşmir, C., & de Boer, R. (2008) The Specificity and Polymorphism of the MHC Class I Prevents the Global Adaptation of HIV-1 to the Monomorphic Proteasome and TAP. PLoS ONE, 3(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003525
- March 23, 2009
- 08:59 AM
- 852 views
Controlling cancer by blocking exhaustion?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Melanoma antigens
The other day I talked about about resurrecting the antiviral response in HIV patients. 1 Antiviral T cells in HIV (and other chronic immune responses) become exhausted: After long exposure to antigen, the cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) become dysfunctional, incapable of mounting a potent response to the virus. This exhausted state is correlated [...]... Read more »
Yuan, J., Gnjatic, S., Li, H., Powel, S., Gallardo, H., Ritter, E., Ku, G., Jungbluth, A., Segal, N., Rasalan, T.... (2008) CTLA-4 blockade enhances polyfunctional NY-ESO-1 specific T cell responses in metastatic melanoma patients with clinical benefit. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(51), 20410-20415. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0810114105
- March 19, 2009
- 09:39 AM
- 1,025 views
On systemic immunity in flies
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
It was previously thought that Drosophila is unable to spread systemically an RNAi response, based on observations that endogenously expressed RNA hairpins do not spread from cell to cell. However, we demonstrate that, upon virus infection, infected cells spread systemically a silencing signal that elicits protective RNAi-dependent immunity throughout the organism. … In striking [...]... Read more »
Saleh, M., Tassetto, M., van Rij, R., Goic, B., Gausson, V., Berry, B., Jacquier, C., Antoniewski, C., & Andino, R. (2009) Antiviral immunity in Drosophila requires systemic RNA interference spread. Nature, 458(7236), 346-350. DOI: 10.1038/nature07712
- March 16, 2009
- 07:04 AM
- 845 views
Controlling HIV by blocking exhaustion
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
The immune system needs to be rigorously controlled, lest it break its banks and flood the body with destructive responses. Any immune stimulant carries its own brakes; a response to an antigen peaks and then crashes as fast as it accelerated. When the brakes fail, autoimmunity and immune-mediated damage can be more lethal [...]... Read more »
Velu, V., Titanji, K., Zhu, B., Husain, S., Pladevega, A., Lai, L., Vanderford, T., Chennareddi, L., Silvestri, G., Freeman, G.... (2008) Enhancing SIV-specific immunity in vivo by PD-1 blockade. Nature, 458(7235), 206-210. DOI: 10.1038/nature07662
- March 12, 2009
- 07:27 AM
- 1,625 views
A successful trial of a malaria vaccine
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
The point of a vaccine trial is to test whether the vaccine works. If you get an answer to that question, the trial is a success. The answer may be “No”, in which case the vaccine is a failure, but the trial would still be a success. (The STEP HIV vaccine trial was therefore a [...]... Read more »
Ogutu, B., Apollo, O., McKinney, D., Okoth, W., Siangla, J., Dubovsky, F., Tucker, K., Waitumbi, J., Diggs, C., Wittes, J.... (2009) Blood Stage Malaria Vaccine Eliciting High Antigen-Specific Antibody Concentrations Confers No Protection to Young Children in Western Kenya. PLoS ONE, 4(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004708
- March 9, 2009
- 08:49 AM
- 1,264 views
The next step in the HIV arms race?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Any time a species meets some kind of barrier, there’s going to be selection to overcome that barrier. In the case of pathogens, one major barrier they have to hurdle is their hosts’ immune systems. What’s more, this isn’t a simple, static barrier. Immune systems change on a day-to-day basis; and immune systems also change [...]... Read more »
Amber G. F. Teacher, Trenton W. J. Garner, & Richard A. Nichols. (2009) Evidence for Directional Selection at a Novel Major Histocompatibility Class I Marker in Wild Common Frogs (Rana temporaria) Exposed to a Viral Pathogen (Ranavirus). PLoS ONE, 4(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004616
Yuka Kawashima, Katja Pfafferott, John Frater, Philippa Matthews, Rebecca Payne, Marylyn Addo, Hiroyuki Gatanaga, Mamoru Fujiwara, Atsuko Hachiya, Hirokazu Koizumi.... (2009) Adaptation of HIV-1 to human leukocyte antigen class I. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature07746
- March 5, 2009
- 07:22 AM
- 1,505 views
On measles vaccination and capitalism
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Anti-vaccine loons often claim that the only reason for vaccinations is the capitalist system and the ill-gotten profits of vaccination.
Here’s data1 from that notorious hotbed of capitalism, the People’s Republic of China of 1965, when measles vaccination was introduced. For Shanghai …
The incidence of morbidity associated with measles ranged from 909 to 3,510/100,000 persons during [...]... Read more »
X. Jianzhi, & C. Zhihui. (1983) Measles Vaccine in the People's Republic of China. Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 506-510. DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4453066
- March 2, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 877 views
Evolution snapshot: Frogs vs. virus
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
A ranavirus epidemic in UK frogs may be driving evolution of the MHC class I region... Read more »
Amber G. F. Teacher, Trenton W. J. Garner, & Richard A. Nichols. (2009) Evidence for Directional Selection at a Novel Major Histocompatibility Class I Marker in Wild Common Frogs (Rana temporaria) Exposed to a Viral Pathogen (Ranavirus). PLoS ONE, 4(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004616
- February 25, 2009
- 11:27 AM
- 793 views
On undiscovered viruses
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
How many viruses infect humans? Have we found them all? If not, how many more are there?
We conclude that it is extremely probable that new human viruses will continue to be discovered in the immediate future; we are not yet close to the end of the virus discovery curve. …Current trends are consistent with a pool [...]... Read more »
Mark E.J. Woolhouse, Richard Howey, Eleanor Gaunt, Liam Reilly, Margo Chase-Topping, & Nick Savill. (2008) Temporal trends in the discovery of human viruses. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1647), 2111-2115. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0294
- February 24, 2009
- 09:18 AM
- 802 views
More chemotherapy and tumor immunity
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
U-118 Glioma cells
In one of the earliest posts I made to Mystery Rays, I commented on an exciting anti-tumor finding. 1 Basically, the suggestion was that when chemotherapy of tumors works, it doesn’t actually work by killing all the tumor cells; or at least not directly. Instead, the authors said, chemo works because the dying tumor [...]... Read more »
James F. Curtin, Naiyou Liu, Marianela Candolfi, Weidong Xiong, Hikmat Assi, Kader Yagiz, Matthew R. Edwards, Kathrin S. Michelsen, Kurt M. Kroeger, Chunyan Liu.... (2009) HMGB1 Mediates Endogenous TLR2 Activation and Brain Tumor Regression. PLoS Medicine, 6(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000010
- February 19, 2009
- 09:46 AM
- 802 views
Google vs. influenza
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
It seems that influenza is a popular target for internet-based research; perhaps because it’s so common and well-known that population trends can be picked up accurately this way.
Five Google.com scientists, and one from the CDC, have published evidence in Nature1 that Google search terms are accurate ways of measuring influenza epidemics. Their influenza tool is [...]... Read more »
Jeremy Ginsberg, Matthew H. Mohebbi, Rajan S. Patel, Lynnette Brammer, Mark S. Smolinski, & Larry Brilliant. (2008) Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Nature, 457(7232), 1012-1014. DOI: 10.1038/nature07634
- February 16, 2009
- 01:28 PM
- 977 views
Not merely bioweaponized, but mutualistic bioweaponized wasps
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
A while ago I mentioned the truly spectacular symbiosis between some parasitic wasps and their weaponized internal viruses. These wasps parasitize caterpillars and the like; and to subdue their prey, the wasps inject viruses into their prey, along with their own eggs. The viral immune evasion functions then block the caterpillar’s defenses, allowing the [...]... Read more »
A. Bezier, M. Annaheim, J. Herbiniere, C. Wetterwald, G. Gyapay, S. Bernard-Samain, P. Wincker, I. Roditi, M. Heller, M. Belghazi.... (2009) Polydnaviruses of Braconid Wasps Derive from an Ancestral Nudivirus. Science, 323(5916), 926-930. DOI: 10.1126/science.1166788
- February 12, 2009
- 10:10 AM
- 878 views
On peer review and fraud
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Following the Wakefield fraud story, I’ve seen several blogs and blog commenters suggesting that The Lancet was at fault for failing to catch the fraud in the peer review process. I (and I think most practicing scientists) don’t agree with that condemnation, which I think shows that many people outside the field don’t really understand [...]... Read more »
M. Rossner. (2008) A false sense of security. The Journal of Cell Biology, 183(4), 573-574. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200810172
- February 10, 2009
- 06:51 AM
- 1,029 views
Immune control of Hepatitis C virus and HIV: coincidence or plan?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
HCV protein associated with lipid droplets
Torsten Schaller, Research As Art)
Although there are quite a few viruses that infect and then persist in the infected animal for a long time, most of these viruses don’t cause a lot of problems during the persistent state. Herpesviruses, adenoviruses, and several other families can stick around for a [...]... Read more »
Eva Dazert, Christoph Neumann-Haefelin, Stéphane Bressanelli, Karen Fitzmaurice, Julia Kort, Jörg Timm, Susan McKiernan, Dermot Kelleher, Norbert Gruener, John E. Tavis.... (2009) Loss of viral fitness and cross-recognition by CD8 T cells limit HCV escape from a protective HLA-B27–restricted human immune response. Journal of Clinical Investigation. DOI: 10.1172/JCI36587
- February 3, 2009
- 09:08 AM
- 951 views
Virus vs tumor (vs ninja vs pirate): Computational oncolysis
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
“Jennerex” virus (green) replicating within
a tumor mass.
Viruses infect cells, and quite often (depending on the type of virus) destroy the cell they’re infecting. Usually having your cells destroyed is a bad thing for the host, because [...]... Read more »
Dominik Wodarz, & Natalia Komarova. (2009) Towards Predictive Computational Models of Oncolytic Virus Therapy: Basis for Experimental Validation and Model Selection. PLoS ONE, 4(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004271
- January 29, 2009
- 08:24 PM
- 1,636 views
Immune evasion as an antiviral target
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
I know all my regular readers1 are expecting me to talk about the bombshell announcements that NK cells have memory, but I’ll put that off for a bit and instead quickly note a very cool advance on a story I’ve mentioned a few times before.
Interferons are among the most critical early warning and protective cytokines, [...]... Read more »
D. Basu, M. P. Walkiewicz, M. Frieman, R. S. Baric, D. T. Auble, & D. A. Engel. (2008) Novel Influenza Virus NS1 Antagonists Block Replication and Restore Innate Immune Function. Journal of Virology, 83(4), 1881-1891. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01805-08
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