Immunology

Function, regulation, and manipulation of the immune system and inflammatory responses

Discovery of a Pan-Cancer Killing T Cell

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cancer-cell-and-t-cells

Crowther and colleagues screened clones of T cells isolated from a healthy donor and identified a clone (MC.7.G5) that recognized and killed many different types of cancer cells, including cells from solid tumors. When mixed with lung, melanoma, leukemia, breast, colon, prostate, bone, or ovarian cancer cell lines, MC.7.G5 released tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and … Read more

Using Flu Vaccines to Treat Cancer

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Researchers discovered that injecting inactive flu virus directly into solid tumors triggered a systemic anti-tumor immune response. Thus, seasonal flu vaccines or other inactivated virus vaccines could be repurposed as agents that convert immune “cold” tumors into immune hot ones.  Newman and colleagues found that influenza infection, which is respiratory virus that infects the lungs, … Read more

Signal or Nutrient: Breast Milk Lipids in Macrophages

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breast_feeding_signals_macrophages_to_control_fat_development_in_babies

A recent article identified a role for alkylglycerol (AKG)-type ether lipids in human breast milk in the regulation of the development of fat tissue in nursing babies (Figure 1). Intriguingly, the lipids affected tissue-resident macrophages in the fat tissue, adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs), not the adipose cells themselves. Using mice, Yu and colleagaues showed that … Read more

Eosinophilic Esophagitis: When Food Is the Enemy

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sad-child-bowl-food

Eosinophilic esophagitis (referred to as EoE) involves an atypical allergic response to food in the esophagus. In some patients, the response can be triggered by simply the smell of the problematic food. The cells involved are not part of the adaptive immune system and do not react to self antigens. Thus, it is not an … Read more