T cells do not have the last word in some breast cancers. According to a study from the University of Pittsburgh, the key to estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast tumors are macrophages, not T cells, and targeting them could prevent immunotherapy failure in this type of cancer.
When undertaking a study on allergen-induced anaphylaxis in mice, researchers have found that not only the immune but also the nervous system may potentially play a part in the anaphylactic response. In their study published March 17, 2023, in Science Immunology, researchers from Duke University Medical Center reported that mice undergoing anaphylaxis displayed an “extended posture behavior” similar to the one that mice exhibit when exposed to high temperatures.
In the March 2023 issue of Science Immunology, researchers working at the City of Hope National Medical Center reported on the discovery the mechanisms by which the spliced X-box–binding protein 1 (XBP1s) served essential functions in the IL-15-dependent survival of natural killer (NK) cells. Since XBP1s is known to play critical roles in MHCII expression, the unfolded protein stress response, and ultimately tumorigenesis, the study provided deep insights into the understanding of NK cell biology with translational potential.
It is approved as a food additive. But it now appears that sucralose can dampen T-cell-mediated immune responses, suggesting it could be a means of treating T-cell-dependent autoimmune disorders. While stressing (repeatedly) that they were studying intakes well above normal, at high but achievable doses sucralose has an unexpected effect on T-cell responses and functions in autoimmune, infection and tumor models, researchers at The Francis Crick Institute, London, reported in Nature March 15, 2023.
The traps that neutrophils develop against microorganisms also hold T cells and prevent the success of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer. To free the immune system from itself, scientists at the Istituto Oncologico Veneto in Italy made a key that unlocked this sticky dungeon from an antibody against arginase-1 (ARG1), an enzyme also present in the trap.
Modex Therapeutics Inc., an Opko Health Inc. company, has entered into an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. Inc., for the development of MDX-2201, Modex's preclinical nanoparticle vaccine candidate targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
Autoantibodies are typically not good news. But a group of researchers from Bellinzona, Switzerland, have observed that the presence of autoantibodies against chemokines, a special class of cytokines, is associated with mild disease and less risk of developing long COVID. “Our hypothesis was that antibodies to chemokines, if they existed, would also be associated with a negative outcome of the disease. But, what we found, in fact, was the exact opposite of what we were predicting,” Davide Robbiani, director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, told BioWorld.
Bacteria inflaming the meninges have developed an immunosuppressive mechanism that contributes to their ability to attack the brain. Researchers found that, by activating pain receptors (nociceptors) to release chemical substances that block an immune cell receptor, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus agalactiae deactivated the protective function of macrophages and weakened brain defenses. This, in turn, enabled them to invade the brain.
Allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy is well tolerated in patients with graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) but results in clinical trials have shown that it lacks potent immunosuppressive effects. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic thus proposed enhancing MSC immunosuppression by bioengineering the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) MSCs (CAR-MSCs) and targeting E cadherin (anti-Ecad CAR-MSC), with a CD28 intracellular signaling domain to induce antigen-specific immunosuppressor effect.
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