Category Biology/Biotechnology

Immunofluorescence imaging of human brain tissue generated from an active lesion from an individual with multiple sclerosis shows astrocytes (blue), the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (red) and the phosphorylated Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (green). Credit: Image courtesy of Jorge Ivan Alvarez, Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Bacteria living in the gut may remotely influence the activity of cells in the brain that are involved in controlling inflammation and neurodegeneration...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa killed by the engineered cationic antimicrobial peptide (eCAP). Killed bacteria (red), living bacteria (green). Credit: Jeffrey Melvin, Pitt

A potential drug therapy developed at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) has proven effective against tough bacterial biofilms and a respiratory virus simultaneously. The drug outperforms traditional therapies in the laboratory setting. “To the best of our knowledge, no other antibiotics out there work on both the bacteria and the virus during a co-infection,” said Jennifer M. Bomberger, Ph.D., assistant professor in Pitt’s Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Chronic infections, such as those that kill cystic fibrosis patients, resist the body’s efforts to clear them from the lungs, sin...

New study finds antibodies in breast milk help shape newborns’ immune systems. (iStockphoto)

The new study shows how antibodies from breast milk interact with the just-forming immune system of the newborn to help shape lifelong immune responses that are key for establishing boundaries and balance between gut microbes and the mammalian host. If this balance fails to become established or later falters, chronic inflammatory conditions, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, may result.

A healthy relationship between host and bacteria is deemed to be “commensal,” essentially meaning that neither is harmed.
In their studies of mice, Gregory Barton and Meghan Koch, found 3 specific types of antibodies, IgA, IgG2b, IgG3 are present in breast milk and promote peace between the immune sy...

One shot: As part of the clinical trial, researchers gave participants a single dose of 3BNC117, a so-called broadly neutralizing antibody capable of fighting a wide range of HIV strains.

The development of antiretroviral therapy, a combination of drugs that slows the replication of HIV in the body, has transformed the treatment of this infection. but there are side effects, including kidney problems, decreased bone density, and gastrointestinal problems. And if a person discontinues his or her treatment, even missing a few doses, the level of the virus in the body is able to rebound quickly. So researchers are developing a new kind of treatment, an antibody-based drug that may provide a better strategy for long-term control of HIV.

Recent findings from a Phase 1 clinical trial offer new i...