All posts; Tags Include "Immunology"
- October 5, 2016
- 09:06 AM
- 186 views
Of microbes and men: Evolving as one and terraforming earth
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Me and my microbes In the past decade or so, the microbiota, the community of microbes that makes its home in the guts of humans and other animals, has become quite a popular research topic. Quite rightly so, since our little guests seem to affect aspects of our lives that we wouldn’t necessarily consider to […]... Read more »
Faria VG, Martins NE, Magalhães S, Paulo TF, Nolte V, Schlötterer C, Sucena É, & Teixeira L. (2016) Drosophila Adaptation to Viral Infection through Defensive Symbiont Evolution. PLoS genetics, 12(9). PMID: 27684942
Solé RV, Montañez R, & Duran-Nebreda S. (2015) Synthetic circuit designs for earth terraformation. Biology direct, 37. PMID: 26187273
- July 8, 2016
- 12:38 PM
- 424 views
FNIP1 and FNIP2 inhibit Hsp90 chaperone cycle and enhance drug binding
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
Heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone required for folding, stability and activity of many proteins, known as clients, including drivers of tumour initiation, progression and metastasis (Rohl et al. 2013). ATPase binding and hydrolysis is essential for the chaperone function of Hsp90. ATPase function is regulated by other proteins known as co-chaperones. In an interesting new study, Woodford et al. (2016) show that the stability of the tumour suppressor folliculin (FLCN), whose ........ Read more »
Woodford MR, Dunn DM, Blanden AR, Capriotti D, Loiselle D, Prodromou C, Panaretou B, Hughes PF, Smith A, Ackerman W.... (2016) The FNIP co-chaperones decelerate the Hsp90 chaperone cycle and enhance drug binding. Nature communications, 12037. PMID: 27353360
- June 15, 2016
- 08:05 AM
- 495 views
Tricky Little Buggers
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Evolution brings wisdom with age – and bacteria are ancient. Bacteria have evolved defenses ranging from evasion or inhibition of immune systems to protecting crucial functions from environmental injury. New studies have identified spring-loaded spikes that can be assembled and disassembled for puncturing other bacteria and delivering toxins, while other work is focused on using those same toxins to kill antibiotic resistant organisms, with E. coli have been engineered to produce toxins ag........ Read more »
Basler, M., Pilhofer, M., Henderson, G., Jensen, G., & Mekalanos, J. (2012) Type VI secretion requires a dynamic contractile phage tail-like structure. Nature, 483(7388), 182-186. DOI: 10.1038/nature10846
Saeidi, N., Wong, C., Lo, T., Nguyen, H., Ling, H., Leong, S., Poh, C., & Chang, M. (2011) Engineering microbes to sense and eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a human pathogen. Molecular Systems Biology. DOI: 10.1038/msb.2011.55
- June 8, 2016
- 09:25 AM
- 498 views
Immune To Evolution
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Recent studies show that plant immune reactions include responses that are adaptive. Even more amazing, these responses include the recruitment of parasitic wasps to combat some herbivorous invaders. In addition, several plant chemicals that prime the immune responses have been identified, leading to a sort of immune memory. Plants do all this without a classical immune system. Once again, plants show us that in many ways, they are more complex than mammals.... Read more »
Fatouros, N., Lucas-Barbosa, D., Weldegergis, B., Pashalidou, F., van Loon, J., Dicke, M., Harvey, J., Gols, R., & Huigens, M. (2012) Plant Volatiles Induced by Herbivore Egg Deposition Affect Insects of Different Trophic Levels. PLoS ONE, 7(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043607
Yun, B., Feechan, A., Yin, M., Saidi, N., Le Bihan, T., Yu, M., Moore, J., Kang, J., Kwon, E., Spoel, S.... (2011) S-nitrosylation of NADPH oxidase regulates cell death in plant immunity. Nature, 264-268. DOI: 10.1038/nature10427
- June 1, 2016
- 08:10 AM
- 374 views
The Dirt On Staying Healthy
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Triclosan is the active ingredient in many anti-bacterial products, but does it make our environment too clean? The hygiene hypothesis states that early childhood exposure to certain antigens can help to balance and control the immune system, and therefore result in lower levels of food and seasonal allergies. One particularly important antigen seems to be arabinogalactan, a fiber/sugar molecule found on farms – maybe that’s why farmers’ kids have lower levels of food and other........ Read more »
Gennady Cherednichenkoa, Rui Zhanga, Roger A. Bannisterb,Valeriy Timofeyevc, Ning Lic, Erika B. Fritscha, Wei Fenga, Genaro C. Barrientosa, Nils H. Schebbd, Bruce D. Hammockd, Kurt G. Beame, Nipavan Chiamvimonvatc, and Isaac N. Pessaha. (2012) Triclosan impairs excitation–contraction coupling and Ca2 dynamics in striated muscle. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211314109
- May 25, 2016
- 07:45 AM
- 475 views
Don't Be So Sensitive
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Just like some people have a tendency to go overboard, so do some immune systems. Here’s all the ways that your immune system can get it wrong and leave you with allergies – and how some allergies can save your life.... Read more »
Calboli FC, Cox DG, Buring JE, Gaziano JM, Ma J, Stampfer M, Willett WC, Tworoger SS, Hunter DJ, Camargo CA Jr, Michaud DS. (2011) Prediagnostic plasma IgE levels and risk of adult glioma in four prospective cohort studies. J Natl Cancer Inst. . DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djr361
Joseph A Jackson, Ida M Friberg, Luke Bolch, Ann Lowe, Catriona Ralli, Philip D Harris, Jerzy M Behnke, Janette E Bradley. (2009) Immunomodulatory parasites and toll-like receptor-mediated tumour necrosis factor alpha responsiveness in wild mammals. BMC Biology. DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-7-16
- May 18, 2016
- 09:15 AM
- 628 views
Ironing Out The Black Death
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The black plague has taken the lives of millions over the centuries. Recent evidence shows that a small number of genetic changes were required to allow Y. pestis to use fleas as a vector. This increased Y. pestis virulence in humans, and might have wiped us out if it weren't for a genetic disease called hereditary hemochromatosis.... Read more »
Chouikha I, Hinnebusch BJ. (2012) Yersinia-flea interactions and the evolution of the arthropod-borne transmission route of plague. Curr Opin Microbiol. . DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2012.02.003
- May 11, 2016
- 06:50 AM
- 512 views
Viva La Evolution
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
In our continuing story of how being sick can save you, how about three genetic diseases and a genetic condition that can save you from malaria. The genetic diseases might kill you, but usually after you procreate, and that is better for the species than being killed by malaria as a child. Evolution is an emotionless mistress.... Read more »
Chootong P, Panichakul T, Permmongkol C, Barnes SJ, Udomsangpetch R, et al. (2012) Characterization of Inhibitory Anti-Duffy Binding Protein II Immunity: Approach to Plasmodium vivax Vaccine Development in Thailand. PLoS ONE , 7(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035769
- April 29, 2016
- 11:02 AM
- 647 views
Bringing ‘Dirty’ Mice Into Labs Opens A World Of Possibilities
by Rita dos Santos Silva in United Academics
Treating immune disorders might have gotten easier with a new mouse model.... Read more »
Beura, L., Hamilton, S., Bi, K., Schenkel, J., Odumade, O., Casey, K., Thompson, E., Fraser, K., Rosato, P., Filali-Mouhim, A.... (2016) Normalizing the environment recapitulates adult human immune traits in laboratory mice. Nature, 532(7600), 512-516. DOI: 10.1038/nature17655
Mestas, J., & Hughes, C. (2004) Of Mice and Not Men: Differences between Mouse and Human Immunology. The Journal of Immunology, 172(5), 2731-2738. DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.172.5.2731
Shultz, D. (2016) Can ‘dirty mice’ save animal research?. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4153
Reardon, S. (2016) Dirty room-mates make lab mice more useful. Nature, 532(7599), 294-295. DOI: 10.1038/532294a
- April 27, 2016
- 08:35 AM
- 656 views
Your Body Has A Photographic Memory
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
For the first time anywhere - an easy explanation of your immune system in 1500 words! For the low, low price of zero dollars you can find out how your body protects you better the second time you are exposed to a disease. Special bonus offer – we’ll throw in how vaccines work and why you need one every year for the flu, although your old flu vaccines might still be helping you. ... Read more »
Mathews, J., McBryde, E., McVernon, J., Pallaghy, P., & McCaw, J. (2010) Prior immunity helps to explain wave-like behaviour of pandemic influenza in 1918-9. BMC Infectious Diseases, 10(1), 128. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-10-128
Kash, J., Qi, L., Dugan, V., Jagger, B., Hrabal, R., Memoli, M., Morens, D., & Taubenberger, J. (2010) Prior infection with classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses is associated with protective immunity to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 4(3), 121-127. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2010.00132.x
Cowling, B., Ng, S., Ma, E., Cheng, C., Wai, W., Fang, V., Chan, K., Ip, D., Chiu, S., Peiris, J.... (2010) Protective Efficacy of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination against Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Virus Infection during 2009 in Hong Kong. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 51(12), 1370-1379. DOI: 10.1086/657311
- April 20, 2016
- 09:30 AM
- 693 views
Lucky For Me, I'm Diseased
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
When people are sick we isolate, we feel sorry for them, we avoid them. But we don’t think about the many times that being sick is actually good for your health. One example – vaccines. Many vaccines give you disease to prevent disease. Unfortunately, too many people are foregoing vaccination for their children based on fraudulent data. Think anti-vaxxers don’t affect you because you and your kids are vaccinated? Read on and learn better.... Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012) Pertussis epidemic - washington, 2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 517-22. PMID: 22810264
- April 8, 2016
- 09:56 AM
- 504 views
The Antibacterial Resistance Threat: Are We Heading Toward a Post-Antibiotic Era?
Source: PEW Charitable TrustsThe above graphic, from the Antibiotic Resistance Project by the PEW charitable trusts, summarizes how alarming the emergence of drug resistant bacterial strains has gotten over the past few decades. According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every year 2 million Americans acquire drug-resistant infections [1], in other words infections that do not respond to treatment with ordinary antibiotics. Not only do drug-resistant infections require muc........ Read more »
Armstrong GL, Conn LA, & Pinner RW. (1999) Trends in infectious disease mortality in the United States during the 20th century. JAMA, 281(1), 61-6. PMID: 9892452
Hollis, A., & Ahmed, Z. (2013) Preserving Antibiotics, Rationally. New England Journal of Medicine, 369(26), 2474-2476. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1311479
Cherednichenko, G., Zhang, R., Bannister, R., Timofeyev, V., Li, N., Fritsch, E., Feng, W., Barrientos, G., Schebb, N., Hammock, B.... (2012) Triclosan impairs excitation-contraction coupling and Ca2 dynamics in striated muscle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(35), 14158-14163. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211314109
Van Boeckel, T., Brower, C., Gilbert, M., Grenfell, B., Levin, S., Robinson, T., Teillant, A., & Laxminarayan, R. (2015) Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(18), 5649-5654. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1503141112
- April 1, 2016
- 10:12 AM
- 492 views
Allergies: Can Too Much Hygiene Actually Harm Us?
It's that time of the year again. You step out of the house and your eyes itch, your nose starts running and your head feels like an empty balloon. Yes, it's allergy season again. Even the resilient ones, give them enough time and eventually they will develop some form of allergic reaction. But what are allergies and why do so many people suffer from them?Allergies are a glitch in our immune system. The immune system is built to recognize and destroy pathogens -- potential threats like viruses........ Read more »
Ziska, L., Knowlton, K., Rogers, C., Dalan, D., Tierney, N., Elder, M., Filley, W., Shropshire, J., Ford, L., Hedberg, C.... (2011) Recent warming by latitude associated with increased length of ragweed pollen season in central North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(10), 4248-4251. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1014107108
Platts-Mills, T. (2015) The allergy epidemics: 1870-2010. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 136(1), 3-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.03.048
Strachan DP. (1989) Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 299(6710), 1259-60. PMID: 2513902
Li, Q., & Zhou, J. (2016) The microbiota–gut–brain axis and its potential therapeutic role in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.03.013
Molloy, J., Allen, K., Collier, F., Tang, M., Ward, A., & Vuillermin, P. (2013) The Potential Link between Gut Microbiota and IgE-Mediated Food Allergy in Early Life. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(12), 7235-7256. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph10127235
Riiser, A. (2015) The human microbiome, asthma, and allergy. Allergy, Asthma , 11(1). DOI: 10.1186/s13223-015-0102-0
- March 16, 2016
- 09:59 AM
- 576 views
An open letter to all science lovers who want to defend science ... please don't.
Last week I had an animated discussion on Facebook over an older post in which I describe some literature I dug out on possible (underline “possible”!) correlations with autism. True, my post is highly incomplete, but it was meant as a discussion starter to point at things that scientists have been looking at in an attempt to unravel what feels like a rise in autism. Is autism the new childhood plague of our modern society or has it always been around and we just became more aware of it? And........ Read more »
Kushak RI, Buie TM, Murray KF, Newburg DS, Chen C, Nestoridi E, & Winter HS. (2016) Evaluation of Intestinal Function in Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Symptoms. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. PMID: 26913756
Li, Q., & Zhou, J. (2016) The microbiota–gut–brain axis and its potential therapeutic role in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.03.013
Heijtz, R., Wang, S., Anuar, F., Qian, Y., Bjorkholm, B., Samuelsson, A., Hibberd, M., Forssberg, H., & Pettersson, S. (2011) Normal gut microbiota modulates brain development and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3047-3052. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010529108
Mulle, J., Sharp, W., & Cubells, J. (2013) The Gut Microbiome: A New Frontier in Autism Research. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(2). DOI: 10.1007/s11920-012-0337-0
- February 25, 2016
- 01:53 PM
- 741 views
How coconuts bring harm and healing
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
Curries, macaroons, piña coladas...where would we be without the captivating culinary contributions of the coconut?... Read more »
Campbell-Falck D, Thomas T, Falck TM, Tutuo N, & Clem K. (2000) The intravenous use of coconut water. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18(1), 108-111. PMID: 10674546
Mulford JS, Oberli H, & Tovosia S. (2001) Coconut palm-related injuries in the Pacific Islands. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 71(1), 32-34. PMID: 11167595
Sekar N, Veetil SK, & Neerathilingam M. (2013) Tender coconut water an economical growth medium for the production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. BMC Biotechnology, 70. PMID: 24004578
- February 12, 2016
- 09:20 AM
- 599 views
The Zika outbreak: a wake-up call about climate change?
People are still talking about the Ebola virus and its deadly outbreak in West Africa, and now a new virus is making the headlines: mostly innocuous and fairly unknown until a few weeks ago, the Zika virus is suddenly dominating the news for its putative link with a congenital birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and undeveloped brains. But what is the Zika virus, and how can it be harmless to most people yet cause such harm to an unborn fetus? To answer this qu........ Read more »
Paul Shapshak , Charurut Somboonwit, Brian T. Foley, Sally F. Alrabaa, Todd Wills, John T. Sinnott. (2015) Zika Virus. Global Virology I - Identifying and Investigating Viral Diseases. Springer-Verlag. info:/
- January 14, 2016
- 05:49 PM
- 316 views
Separate Roles For Protein Kinases in Embryo Development and Cancer
by Marie Benz in MedicalResearch.com
More on Protein Kinases on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Angus Cameron Kinase Biology Laboratory Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London and Professor Peter Parker Protein Phosphorylation Laboratory The Francis Crick Institute Medical Research: What is the … Continue reading →
The post Separate Roles For Protein Kinases in Embryo Development and Cancer appeared first on MedicalResearch.com.
... Read more »
Dr Angus Cameron and, & Professor Peter Parker. (2016) Separate Roles For Protein Kinases in Embryo Development and Cancer. MedicalResearch.com. info:/
- January 9, 2016
- 03:36 PM
- 640 views
Turning to the “Infected Jelly” to Treat Ebola
by Pranab Chatterjee in Scepticemia
The NEJM has come out with a very interesting paper: Evaluation of Convalescent Plasma for Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea. The explosive outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa last year had hijacked the headlines and media space in a big way. Multiple solutions were touted, including the vaccine trial STRIVE. Few articles, however, looked…... Read more »
van Griensven J, Edwards T, de Lamballerie X, Semple MG, Gallian P, Baize S, Horby PW, Raoul H, Magassouba N, Antierens A.... (2016) Evaluation of Convalescent Plasma for Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea. The New England journal of medicine, 374(1), 33-42. PMID: 26735992
- January 9, 2016
- 01:28 PM
- 930 views
If Colistin Goes, Can Carbapenems be Far Behind?
by Pranab Chatterjee in Scepticemia
I wrote about the disaster-in-the-making discovery of transmissible resistance to colistin, a last resort antibiotic, when the Lancet Infectious Diseases published a paper based on data coming out from surveillance in China. At that point of time, the isolation of the transmissible gene providing resistance (mcr1 gene) gained a lot of attention. Maryn McKenna’s blog post went…... Read more »
Poirel, L., Kieffer, N., Liassine, N., Thanh, D., & Nordmann, P. (2016) Plasmid-mediated carbapenem and colistin resistance in a clinical isolate of Escherichia coli. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(16)00006-2
- January 8, 2016
- 05:03 AM
- 731 views
HIF-2α regulates PD-L1 expression in RCC
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
Tumour cells can create immunosuppressive microenvironments by hijacking natural mechanisms such as PD-L1 expression to impair T-cell function. Several new immunotherapy treatments target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and have produced some long-lasting responses in patients (Motzer et al., 2015) but not all patients respond. High expression of PD-L1 in clear cell RCC (ccRCC) has been shown to correlate with metastasis and poor outcome (Thompson et al., 2007). New research from Messai et al. (2015) has........ Read more »
Messai Y, Gad S, Noman MZ, Le Teuff G, Couve S, Janji B, Kammerer SF, Rioux-Leclerc N, Hasmim M, Ferlicot S.... (2015) Renal Cell Carcinoma Programmed Death-ligand 1, a New Direct Target of Hypoxia-inducible Factor-2 Alpha, is Regulated by von Hippel-Lindau Gene Mutation Status. European urology. PMID: 26707870
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.