Lymphocytes in Biological News

Seemingly suicidal stunt is normal rite of passage for immune cells

... breaks in the DNA of immune cells known as lymphocytes activate genes that cause the cells to travel ... have known for two decades or more that lymphocytes can break their own DNA in this fashion, creating ... ability to repair DNA damage slowed down, the lymphocytes can't activate the genes that get them to where ...

Researchers identify a cell type that limits stroke damage

... is caused by the body's immune response. Cells such as microglia and lymphocytes provoke harmful effects similar to those observed during nervous system ... by blocking the production of neurotoxins and modulating the action of lymphocytes and microglia in the brain. ...

Immunotherapy in high-risk pediatric sarcomas shows promising response

... provided a remission. Patients underwent aphaeresis to harvest blood lymphocytes that were then frozen. From this, dendritic cells were later extracted. ... immunotherapy received a common flu vaccine, as well as their own lymphocytes and their own dendritic cells, which had been infused with tumor antigens. ...

Stop and smell the flowers -- the scent really can soothe stress

... exposed lab rats to stressful conditions while inhaling and not inhaling linalool. Linalool returned stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes key parts of the immune system to near-normal levels. Inhaling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that go into overdrive in ...

'First aid' for brain cells comes from blood

... University Hospital have shown that certain immune cells in the blood inhibit inflammation after a stroke. These cells are known as regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg). The regulator cytokine Interleukin 10 plays an important role in this protection, perhaps offering a new approach to stroke therapy. The ...

Researchers explore new driver of transplant rejection: Platelets

... the general that initiates acute rejection, it would put the troops in disarray," says Rabb. "Traditional therapies therefore inhibit or deplete T lymphocytes and other white blood cell components of the immune system. The newest kid on the block is the platelet and it represents an opportunity to target ...

Scripps research team sheds light on immune system suppression

... Mammals have two main ways to fight off infections. Adaptive immune responses are those that involve the production of antibodies and T lymphocytes that attack specific infections. In contrast, innate immune responses are genetically encoded and are generally the same regardless of infection ....

New role for natural killers!

... ago as being able to kill cancer cells in the test tube. Since that time, a role for NK cells in activating other white blood cells (including 'T' lymphocytes and phagocytes) and in directing how the immune system responds to a wide range of infections has also been established. Because of these ...

Lab study shows methadone breaks resistance in untreatable forms of leukemia

... was as effective as standard chemotherapies and radiation treatments against non-resistant leukemia cells, and that non-leukemic peripheral blood lymphocytes survived after methadone treatment. To their surprise, they found that methadone also effectively killed leukemia that was resistant to multiple ...

Viral recombination another way HIV fools the immune system

... more complex strains of HIV." Part of the immune system's response against HIV is carried out by HIV-specific CD8 T cells, also called cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which can identify and kill virus-infected cells. Previous PARC/MGH research showed that the effectiveness of the CTL response varies ...

American Society for Microbiology honors Steven A. Rosenberg

... of more than two dozen human cancer associated antigens used in studies of cancer immunology and immunotherapy, identification of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and the use of these cells in adoptive immunotherapies for cancer, and the first clinical studies of gene therapy against cancer an accomplishment ...

UT pathologists believe they have pinpointed Achilles heel of HIV

... HIV does not want this constant region to provoke the body's defense system. So, HIV uses the same constant cellular attachment site to silence B lymphocytes - the antibody producing cells. The result is that the body is fooled into making abundant antibodies to the changeable regions of HIV but not to its ...

UCLA researchers develop new PET scanning probe that will allowing monitoring of the immune system

... acts as a sort of recycling mechanism that helps with DNA replication and repair. All cells use this biochemical pathway to different degrees. But in lymphocytes and macrophages, the cells of the immune system that initiate immune response, the pathway is activated at very high levels. Because of that, the ...

Type 1 diabetes triggered by 'lazy' regulatory T-cells: McGill researchers

... the islets has been an enigma and an area of great interest over the last few decades, said Dr. Piccirillo, Canada Research Chair in Regulatory lymphocytes of the Immune System, and a leading figure in this research area. For the last several years, its been postulated that non-functional regulatory ...

Major gene study uncovers secrets of leukemia

... Normally, the body eliminates differentiated B lymphocytes that have failed to assemble the right genes to ... supposed to attack. However, if these defective B lymphocytes do not differentiate because of the mutations, ... then the body would recognize them as defective B lymphocytes and destroy them." ...

How T lymphocytes attack

... for the first time in vivo and real-time, how T lymphocytes infiltrate a solid tumour in order to fight it. ... The rapidity of the advance achieved by T lymphocytes is indicative of either the absence of an ... the others highly specialised. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes belong to the second category. To achieve their ...

Interaction between lymph and liver cells may affect immune response

... study investigating the interactions between lymphocytes (T cells), liver sinusoidal endothelial cells ... the images showed a large number of intrahepatic lymphocytes (IHLs) that had extensions similar to the ... start the TEHLI process. "The notion that naïve T lymphocytes are capable of directly interacting with ...

BiovaxID?yields 89 percent survival in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkins

... an almost complete depletion of normal B-cell lymphocytes due to EPOCH-R therapy, BiovaxID did induce ... in most patients. Depletion of normal B-cell lymphocytes is a consequence of the combination of ... responses," concluded the investigators. lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell. There are two ...

Researchers discover new tumor defense system

... a loss of the ability of the cytotoxic T lymphocytes to recognize the tumor and a physical barrier separating the lymphocytes and the tumor. Now, Dr. Alan M. Kleinfeld and ... for life, at high levels prevents the cytotoxic T lymphocytes from destroying tumor cells. The second thing is ...

New imaging technology shown to detect pancreatic inflammation in type 1 diabetes

... Early in this process, white blood cells called T lymphocytes infiltrate the islets of the pancreas (an ... to become leaky. Over time, this infiltration of lymphocytes destroys the beta cells, leading to high blood ... islets in recently diagnosed diabetic mice. As T lymphocytes invade the pancreas, blood vessels swell, become ...

NCI Researchers Confirm the Effectiveness of Immunotherapy Approach to Treating Melanoma

... (autologous) activated lymphocytes. Autologous lymphocytes are white blood cells that have been removed from ... drugs were used to reduce the number of lymphocytes circulating in the blood, therefore reducing competition for the newly activated tumor-fighting lymphocytes being reintroduced in to the blood stream. ...

B cells are required for development of epithelial cancer associated with chronic inflammation

... in the May issue of Cancer Cell identifies B lymphocytes as important regulators of premalignancy ... The results suggest that drugs targeted against B lymphocytes or recruitment of innate immune cells toward ... immune cells. Genetic elimination of T and B lymphocytes in this model system resulted in a failure to ...

Multi-purpose protein regulates new protein synthesis and immune cell development

... have shown that XBP1 helps immune cells called B lymphocytes develop into antibody-generating plasma cells. ... in the transplanted mice, but their mature B lymphocytes were defective. Without IRE1, lymphocytes don't develop a B cell receptor and don't have ...

TEL2 gene cooperates with MYC gene to provoke B-cell lymphomas

... a gene that orchestrates the ability of abnormal lymphocytes to commit suicide--ridding the body of ... apoptosis becomes sluggish, the population of B lymphocytes increases. The greater the number of these cells, ... in mice that were genetically modified so their B lymphocytes were over-expressing MYC," Grosveld said. "When ...

How 'memory' T cells curb the spread of viruses throughout the body

... The immunity occurs when the immune system produces cells called lymphocytes that specifically attack and eliminate the virus at the time of infection. After the infection subsides, most of the lymphocytes die but some remain in the body as “memory lymphocytes” and protect the ...

Early-stage immune system control of HIV may depend on inherited factors

... well as on the fragments of viral protein those molecules display to the T lymphocytes that usually destroy infected cells. In a report in the November issue of ... proteins on HLA Class I molecules, which activate the CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes that usually destroy infected cells. Although the CD8 response against ...

Environmental toxins may cause body's defenses to worsen lung disease

... response," Borchers says. This will help scientists determine which lymphocytes are important for regulating damage in the lungs, so they can develop ways to "tweak" the immune system and prevent the lymphocytes from causing additional damage to already-injured tissue. Borchers ...

Montreal researchers identify defects of immune cells

... have for the first time succeeded in demonstrating that defective CD4+ T lymphocytes primarily determine the susceptibility to oral candidiasis in transgenic ... of HIV-infected patients who suffer from candidiasis. Defective CD4+ T lymphocytes have long been suspected to be the leading cause of candidiasis, however, ...

Viral protein influences key cell-signaling pathway

... "The p300 protein is an important central regulator of gene activity in lymphocytes and many other kinds of cells," says Michael Lairmore, professor and chair ... in a series of studies led by Lairmore that examine how HTLV-1 affects T lymphocytes and causes cancer. The p12 gene is called an "accessory gene" because ...

Circles Of DNA Might Help Predict Success Of Stem Cell Transplantation

... successfully restore a population of infection-fighting cells called T lymphocytes in a child. This research, by investigators at St. Jude Children's ... processes immature "precursor" immune cells into specialized T cells. T lymphocytes are specialized immune cells carrying proteins called receptors on their ...

Enzyme allows B cells to resist death, leading to leukemia

... in adults and is characterized by the progressive accumulation of mature B lymphocytes in the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic tissues. It is believed that in ... leukemia cells from 40 patients with B-CLL and compared them with lymphocytes from normal donors. They found that Lyn was markedly overexpressed in CLL ...

Recent breakthroughs in common adult leukemia highlighted in New England Journal of Medicine

... most reliable indicator of prognosis known to date. After discussing B lymphocytes -- the type of white blood cell that gives rise to CLL, the biology of leukemic lymphocytes and the clinical course of CLL as it relates to the biology, the authors ...

Scientists learn the origin of rogue B cells

... "If you understood the system extremely well and were able to delete the editing cells during development, for instance, then you would only have lymphocytes that don't express self-receptors at all," he says. For now, the step forward to understand where these self-directed cells are coming from is a ...

Antibody therapy prevents type 1 diabetes in mice

... were six months old. Interestingly, the antibody therapy did not appear to cure the NOD mice because the researchers were still able to see lymphocytes in their pancreatic islets, a tell-tale sign of pancreatic inflammation and autoimmunity. In addition, when the researchers isolated cells from the ...

Mechanisms involved with tumor relapse identified

... system in response to invasion by pathogens or tumors in order to protect the host against infection or cancers. Production of interferon gamma by lymphocytes against tumors is considered a sign of good prognosis; however, recent study findings indicate that this may not be the case. The findings were ...

Novel antigen-cloning technique may boost efforts to develop a melanoma vaccine

... copies of the RPL8 antigen from a melanoma. The scientists then showed that a peptide of RPL8 could stimulate a response in helper T cell clones and lymphocytes in four out of nine melanoma patients. The antigen created no response in cells taken from healthy donors. The study also showed that RPL8 might ...

Common blood test can help distinguish between mononucleosis and tonsillitis

... at their facility. All patients were given the spot test for mononucleosis and additional blood tests were performed to determine the number of lymphocytes (a particular type of white blood cell involved in the body's immune response) and overall white blood cell count. Total white blood cell count ...

Science researchers genetically transform immune cells into tumor fighters

... the receptor that recognizes melanoma cells and returning these "re-armed" cells to rebuild the patients' immune systems. "We can take normal lymphocytes from patients and convert them to tumor-reactive cells," Rosenberg says, adding that the engineered cells could be tailored to fight tumors other ...

Early HIV treatment fails to restore memory T cells

... and in particular that an HIV vaccine may need to stimulate immune responses that can act very quickly following infection, before the bulk of lymphocytes capable of countering the infection are lost. ...