Tag: "killer" at biology news

Jump-starting T Cells In Skin Cancer

...rk by increasing the number of immune cells called killer T cells that can attack the tumor. In an unexpecte...ithout expanding large numbers of vaccine-specific killer T cells. Pierre Coulie's group studied anti-tumor T cells in patients vaccinated with a tumor antig...

Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists identify immune-system mutation

...ts that enter the body. Other T cells are known as killer cells because they attack foreign invaders more di...erent pathways, going on to become helper cells or killer cells," Kappes said. His goal is to understand how T cells specialize to do different jobs. Commitm...

Genome-wide mouse study yields link to human leukemia

...ge marked by rapidly expanding T cells and natural killer cells, both major components of the immune system. In comparing the mice in the pre-leukemic stage and those with ALL with normal mice, researchers found that methylation, a chemical process that adds methyl molecules to DNA, silenced a number of ge...

Essential mangrove forest threatened by cryptic ecological degradation

The recent killer tsunami has highlighted once more the importance of coastline protection. In natural conditions, this function is taken up by mangroves, forests thriving at the edge of land and sea that are ecologically and socio-economically important for local peo...

Taking Aim With Nanoparticle PEBBLEs

...iversity of Michigan scientists hope to slay a big killer with pebbles. In this case, the killer is not a fearsome giant, but a dreaded disease: cancer. And the pebbles are not the kind you hurl fr...

Genetically modified natural killer immune cells attack, kill leukemia cells

Natural killer (NK) immune system cells can be genetically modified to brandish a powerful "on-switch" that prompts them to aggressively attack and kill leukemic cells. This finding, from researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, suggests a way to impro...

New Breast Cancer Test Could Save Lives

... all ages; given that breast cancer is the largest killer of women between the ages of 35-55 in Europe, the test could have a dramatic effect on the number of deaths from this disease. The test, which utilises an innovative radar system, will enable women to be tested regularly without the fear of over-exp...

Scientists identify new model Of NK cell development

...t upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells, powerful but somewhat mysterious compo...o become T cells, sophisticated and highly focused killer cells, are released into the bloodstream and migrate to the thymus where they learn their role. In c...

Mayo Clinic Researchers Create 'Obedient Virus'; First Step To Use Measles Virus Against Cancer

...ntly converts the measles virus into a therapeutic killer that hunts down and destroys cancer cells -- and cancer cells only. Their research findings appear as an advanced electronic article of Nature Biotechnology. The researchers harnessed the viral trait for attacking and commandeering cells, and then r...

Genetically Modified Natural Killer Immune Cells Attack, Kill Leukemia Cells

Natural killer (NK) immune system cells can be genetically modified to brandish a powerful "on-switch" that prompts them to aggressively attack and kill leukemic cells. This finding, from researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, suggests a way to impro...

NIAID begins clinical trial of West Nile virus vaccine

...o block the WNV from gaining entry into cells, and killer T cells, which kill WNV-infected cells outright. "The DNA vaccine's exploitation of both cellular and antibody immunity offers a potentially potent defense against West Nile virus," says Barney Graham, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the VRC's Clinical Trials...

How A Latent Virus Eludes Immune Defenses

...ne response—that helps the viral protein evade the killer T cells that could destroy it. Lab studies show th...associated with inhibiting epitope presentation to killer T cells corresponded to reduced protein synthesis. When the authors modified the ORF73 transcript to...

Touching Molecules With Your Bare Hands

...ne response—that helps the viral protein evade the killer T cells that could destroy it. Lab studies show th...associated with inhibiting epitope presentation to killer T cells corresponded to reduced protein synthesis. When the authors modified the ORF73 transcript to...

Natural Killers Could Lead to New Hepatitis Treatments

Researchers have discovered that natural killer T (NKT) cells, the immune system's sentinels, patrol the labyrinthine blood vessels of the liver for invaders or signs of tissue damage and demonstrate a dogged behavior not seen before in other T cells. The new studies show that NKT cells crawl alo...

Unlike other mammals, newborn dolphins and orcas stay active 24/7 during first months of development

...ewborn were tough, pity the poor mother dolphin or killer whale. Reporting in the June 30 edition of the pe...a developmental pattern in bottlenose dolphins and killer whales that is unique from other mammals, with calves of both species active 24 hours a day during t...

Major breakthrough in the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

...nown as EAT-2, present in NK cells, suppresses its killer function. Inhibiting EAT-2 with medications could ...T-2 with medications could therefore stimulate the killer function of NK cells, and increase their capacity to destroy cancer and virus-infected cells. These ...

New tool reveals secrets of migrating cells

...s other immune cells in fighting infections - or a killer T cell that seeks and destroys cells infected with virus. On the other hand, uncommitted or immature T cells, what they call meanderers, wander slowly and apparently randomly around the outer layer, or cortex, of the thymus, perhaps in search of tha...

New vaccine protects more effectively against tuberculosis

...). Globally, tuberculosis remains the number one killer in adults. Moreover, multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis strains are on the rise which cannot be treated by first-line drugs. A vaccine against tuberculosis, termed BCG is available which, however, fails to protect against the most frequent form of dis...

More animals join the learning circle

...w Scientist, 11 June, p 12). But the evidence from killer whales is much more conclusive because the process was observed from start to finish. Some researchers have suggested that many purported examples of cultural transmission can instead be explained by individuals discovering the skill on their own ra...

Simple sea sponge helps scientists understand tissue rejection

...y be a primitive form of our immune system's human killer cells. Fernndez-Busquets has also been researching the role of the molecule called aggregation factor proteoglycan, which he has recently identified as another potential player in sponge tissue rejection reactions, and which is very easy to study in...

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