white blood cells news from FierceBioResearcher

Stem Cell Research An Edinburgh University team has been using a bioactive scaffold to help spur stem cells to grow into bone or cartilage. The researchers say the approach can be tested in humans in Read more...

Researchers at the University of Bristol say that they've found a protein--JAM-1--in the walls of the blood vessels in the brain that may be directly linked to high blood pressure. The protein traps white blood cells, a process that can lead to inflammation and obstruct blood flow. And that has led the researchers to the novel conclusion that high blood pressure could be a vascular disease of the brain. About six of every 10 patients being treated for high blood pressure remain …

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A team of scientists from the Whitehead Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a key set of genes that lie at the heart of autoimmune disease; findings that may help scientists develop new methods for manipulating immune system activity. Their work hinges on a greater understanding of the way regulatory T cells control the frontline T cells that attack pathogens. A failure of regulatory T cells can lead the front line white blood cells to attack the body's tissues, …

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More Research

A line of cancer-resistant mice rely on white blood cells that can detect and overwhelm the defenses of cancer cells, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Medical Center. "Apparently, the mutation in the cancer-resistant mice renders the white blood cells capable of sensing unique diffusible and surface signals from cancer cells and responding to those signals by migration and physical contact," they said. …

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With many stem cell researchers stymied in their hunt for embryonic stem cells, new research indicates that a type of adult stem cell could be induced to grow into a wide variety of tissue types. Adult stem cells are at the center of a number of research programs, but researchers consider adult stem cells to be significantly more limited than embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed into creating any of the body's tissues. Researchers at Northwestern University, though, were able to do …

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Two white blood cells known as Th1 and Th2 have long been recognized for their powerful role in directing immune cells to fight infections and some cancers. Now, though, scientists have identified a third white blood cell that works in tandem with Th1 and Th2, and the discovery is promising to shake up research projects for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease.

- here's the article from AL.com