T cells tagged posts

University of Virginia Health neuroscientists have discovered a potential way to disrupt the chronic inflammation responsible for multiple sclerosis.

UVA’s new study identifies a vital contributor to the hyperactive autoimmune response and neuroinflammation that are the hallmarks of MS. Blocking this lynchpin in a research model of MS alleviated the inflammation, giving researchers a prime target in developing new treatments for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

The research was conducted by Andrea Merchak, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience, and her colleagues in the lab of Alban Gaultier of the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience and its Ce...

Medical science has not yet been able to explain why the Epstein-Barr virus triggers infectious mononucleosis (IM) in some people with initial infections and not in others. But now, a research team led by Elisabeth Puchhammer-Stöckl, head of the Center for Virology at MedUni Vienna, has identified a specific immune response to the virus as the cause, and as a potential target for the development of vaccines. The findings were recently published in the American Society of Hematology’s journal Blood.

Proliferation of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in humans is normally combated by T cells as part of an antiviral immune response. By means of this important mechanism, certain EBV components (peptides) are presented to the T cells by a specific1LA-E molecules on EBV-infected cells.

A ...

As people across the globe look forward to longer life expectancies, malignant cancers continue to pose threats to human health. The exploration and development of immunotherapy aims to seek new breakthroughs for the treatment of solid tumours.

The successful establishment of anti-tumour immunity requires the activation, expansion and differentiation of antigen-specific lymphocytes. This process largely depends on specific interactions between various T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the body. However, existing tumour vaccines, such as neoantigen vaccines and various vector vaccines, all rely on random interactions with APCs in the body...

T cells, biology textbooks teach us, are the soldiers of the immune system, constantly on the ready to respond to a variety of threats, from viruses to tumors. However, without rest and maintenance T cells can die and leave their hosts more susceptible to pathogens, Yale scientists report May 27 in the journal Science.

“We may have to change how we teach T cell biology,” said Lieping Chen, the United Technologies Corporation Professor in Cancer Research at Yale and professor of immunobiology, of dermatology, and of medicine and senior author of the study.

Until pathogens are detected, T cells remain in a quiescent state. However, the molecular mechanisms that keep T cells inactive were previously unknown.

In the new study, Yale researchers show that a protein known as CD8a — ...