T cells tagged posts

HSP-specific T cells infiltrate the retinas and augment glaucomatous neurodegeneration

Unexpected findings show that the body’s own immune system destroys retinal cells. A new study from MIT and Massachusetts Eye and Ear has found that glaucoma may in fact be an autoimmune disorder. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that the body’s own T cells are responsible for the progressive retinal degeneration seen in glaucoma. Furthermore, these T cells appear to be primed to attack retinal neurons as the result of previous interactions with bacteria that normally live in our body.

The discovery suggests that it could be possible to develop new treatments for glaucoma by blocking this autoimmune activity, the researchers say...

Design of sHDL nanodisc platform for personalized cancer vaccines.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have had initial success in mice using nanodiscs to deliver a customized therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of colon and melanoma cancer tumors. “We are basically educating the immune system with these nanodiscs so that immune cells can attack cancer cells in a personalized manner,” said James Moon, the John Gideon Searle assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and biomedical engineering.

Personalized immunotherapy is a fast-growing field of research in the fight against cancer. The therapeutic cancer vaccine employs nanodiscs loaded with tumor neoantigens, unique mutations found in tumor cells...

Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy by Microneedle Patch-Assisted Delivery of Anti-PD1 Antibody.

Biomedical engineering researchers have developed a technique that uses a patch embedded with microneedles to deliver cancer immunotherapy treatment directly to the site of melanoma skin cancer. In animal studies, the technique more effectively targeted melanoma than other immunotherapy treatments.

More than 67,000 people in the US were diagnosed with melanoma in 2012 alone – the most recent year for which data are available. If caught early, melanoma patients have a 5yr survival rate of more than 98%. That number dips to 16.6% if the cancer has metastasized before diagnosis and treatment.

Cancer cells can trick T cells...

A new study reveals that thymus atrophy may stem from a decline in its ability to protect against DNA damage from free radicals. The damage accelerates metabolic dysfunction in the organ, progressively reducing its production of pathogen-fighting T cells. Common antioxidants may slow thymus atrophy and be a Rx strategy for protecting elderly from infections.

“The thymus ages more rapidly than any other tissue in the body, diminishing the ability of older individuals to respond to new immunologic challenges, including evolving pathogens and the vaccines that may otherwise offer protection from them,” says Howard Petrie of SRI. Starting around puberty, the thymus rapidly decreases in size and loses capacity to produce enough new T cells...