Immunology

RNAi used to fight neurodegenerative diseases

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have adapted RNA interference (RNAi) techniques for use against neurological diseases. Manjunath Swamy's team mixed therapeutic RNA with a benign segment of the rabies virus to come up with a treatment that could get through the blood/brain barrier to treat infected cells. The process was tested on mice infected with the fatal viral encephalitis. About 80 percent of the infected mice were cured while all of the mice in the control arm died. Swamy says that the pace of the research should advance swiftly, with human trials in neurological diseases coming in five years. This approach could be used to treat a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's as well as a variety of cancers. RNAi has become one of the hottest research areas in drug discovery, especially since Andrew Fire and Craig Mello won the Nobel prize last year for their work in the field.

- check out the report from The Guardian

Plant used to develop smallpox vaccine

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

In a new study, U.S. researchers say that they have developed a plant that makes a protein that can be used to manufacture a safe and effective smallpox vaccine. And Dr. Hilary Koprowski, head of the Centre for Neurovirology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and developer of the live polio vaccine, says that in 10 years time all smallpox vaccine will be made in plants. Smallpox has been eliminated as a routine health threat, but governments around the globe have been concerned that it could be used in a bioterror attack. The currently available vaccine can easily kill people with a weakened immune system, the scientists say. Koprowski's team created the vaccine in tobacco and collard greens and then tested it on mice. Some scientists note, though, that the new vaccine shouldn't be tested in humans, saying it would be unethical to expose healthy people to the disease.

- check out the report on vaccine production from Health 24

Influenza vaccine produced from animal cells

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

A scientific team at Taiwan's Vaccine Research and Development Centre spent 13 months and $1.2 million to develop a new, cell-based vaccine to target avian flu. One of the scientists said this was the first time that researchers used dog kidney cells in vaccine work. Baxter Vaccines, for example, has used green monkey kidney cells in its cell-based vaccine work. The researchers in Taiwan are building a pilot vaccine plant that will be ready by the end of the year and human clinical trials are scheduled for next year.

- check out the China Post report

ALSO: Scientists at the University of Rochester explain in a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association how they produced an influenza vaccine in insect cells that appeared safe and effective. Recombinant DNA vaccines are already used on hepatitis B and HPV and researchers are looking to extend that to the flu and HIV. The new process would do away with the long and laborious process of using eggs to produce flu vaccine. Report

Related Articles:
The challenges of infectious disease. Report
WHO study points to threats of avian flu. Report

Glaxo turns to auto company for research ideas

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

GlaxoSmithKline had to play a serious game of catch-up in its quest to develop a new vaccine for cervical cancer. Four years ago, Glaxo's vaccines division--GSK Bio--concluded that it was two years behind Merck's program for an HPV vaccine. In order to bridge that yawning gap, researchers at the company adopted a new approach developed by automaker Renault called the "one roof" approach. The company plucked a variety of experts it needed from different fields and put them together under one roof to push a crash vaccine project. Before "one roof," 80 percent of the people working on the vaccine spent 20 percent of their time on the project. That's a traditional development approach that helps contribute to a development process that can easily last 10 years. As a result of the new strategy, GSK Bio cut its timeline to an application in Europe by two years while trimming 18 months off of its FDA schedule. And it accelerated a program that is expected to deliver up to one third of the U.K. company's revenue over the next five years.

- read this article on the research program from BusinessWeek

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NIAID budgets $161M for flu research

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will spend $23 million a year over the next seven years to establish a consortium of six research centers to investigate influenza viruses--including H5N1. The goal is to help government officials respond to seasonal flu as well as potential outbreaks of pandemics.

"There are a variety of viruses to monitor besides the well-known H5N1," St. Jude researcher Robert Webster said. "For example, H7N7 infected chicken industry workers in the Netherlands; and H9N2, which circulates in many global avian populations, also sporadically appears in humans."

The six centers and their primary researchers are: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; University of California at Los Angeles; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Emory University, Atlanta; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York and the University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.

- check out the release on the funding

Related Articles:
NIAID finds antibodies that neutralize H5N1. Report

A new way to boost blood supply

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Using bacterial enzymes, an international team of researchers have developed a simple method to convert type A, B or AB to group O blood that can be used universally. According to the researchers, the enzymes could be used to serve as a kind of biological scissor that could cut away sugar molecules from the surface of red blood cells. People with group A or B blood have sugar molecules in their blood that triggers an immune reaction. Group O has one of the antigens and AB has both. Because group O can be used among all patients, its typically in short supply. Professor Henrik Clausen, from the University of Copenhagen, led the study.

- read the article on the research project

Flu database now includes more than 2000 sequences

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:01:39 -0500

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' public database now includes more than 2,000 sequences on human and avian flu viruses that are freely available to researchers. Elodie Ghedin, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-director of the project says that their work has already helped transform the scientific understand of how viruses develop. That better understanding could play a key role in advancing new therapies as well as tests. Up to now, most therapies for flu viruses have concentrated on surface proteins. The project is continuing to decode the genomes for some 200 viral strains a month.

- here's the report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Indonesia opens up access to bird flu gene codes. Report
Scientists find potential Achilles heel in flu virus. Report

Alzheimer's patch used to deliver vaccine to mice

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:01:39 -0500

In a new study, researchers used a patch to deliver an Alzheimer's vaccine to mice that spurred their immune systems to recognize beta amyloid protein and destroy it. That protein is linked to the formation of beta amyloid plaque in the brain that characterizes the memory-wasting disease. The researchers say that the decision to deliver the vaccine transdermally could help avoid incidences of inflammation and death in a study involving an injected vaccine. If a follow-up study finds that the patch can help preserve memory, the scientists will call for a human clinical trial.

"While many groups have shown vaccinating against the beta amyloid protein can reduce Alzheimer's-like pathology including certain cognitive deficits, this study is the first to demonstrate that immunization using the skin may be effective," says study leader Jun Tan of the University of South Florida department of psychiatry.

- check out the report on the Alzheimer's study from the BBC

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Autoimmune disease research points to new therapies

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:01:39 -0500

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, causing autoimmune disease. This new research focuses on the role of the master T cell regulator, Foxp3. Researchers in Richard Young's Whitehead lab, working with immunologist Harald von Boehmer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, used a DNA microarray technology developed by Young to scan the entire genome of T cells and locate the genes controlled by Foxp3. There were roughly 30 genes found to be directly controlled by Foxp3 and one, called Ptpn22, showed a particularly strong affinity.

"This may shorten the path to new therapies for autoimmune disease," says MIT professor Richard Young, senior author on the paper that will appear January 21 online in Nature. "With this new list of genes, we can now look for possible therapies with far greater precision.

- here's the release on their findings

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Molecular condom releases antivirals

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:01:39 -0500

Scientists at the University of Utah have developed a 'molecular condom' to protect women from AIDS. The smart condom is a vaginal gel that releases antiviral drugs when it comes into contact with semen. The research project is part of a widespread effort to develop microbicides to prevent the spread of HIV. There are some 16 microbicides in the developmental phase and five are being tested among African women. The researchers say the smart condom is still five years away from human testing. The scientific team would like to develop a gel that could be applied once daily or as little as once monthly.

- here's the release from the University of Utah

Related Article:
The challenges of infectious disease. Report

Scientists find potential Achilles heel in flu virus

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas in Austin say that they've found a weakness in the flu virus--both common flu viruses as well as bird flu--that could be a very effective target for new antiviral drugs. The target is the nucleoprotein, the flexible tail loop of the flu protein, often referred to as NP in shorthand. Any changes in the tail prevent the NPs from stacking together, a process that's necessary before cells begin to create the virus. A new antiviral that prevents the nucleoproteins from binding together could be a very effective method for preventing seasonal flu and ultimately guarding against a pandemic. Lead researcher Jane Tao says she is now studying thousands of compounds to see which is most likely to influence the NP.

- check out the press release on the finding
- here's the report on the research from The Houston Chronicle

Studies ponder powers of a plant derivative

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:01:39 -0500

A biochemist at Rutger's Biotechnology Center says that the plant derivative Aframomum melegueta may include the most powerful anti-inflammatory known. Scientist Ilya Raskin was attracted to the rare derivative, which grows in West Africa, during her studies of plant-derived therapeutics. Aframomum figures into a number of home remedies in Africa and its absence in the diet of zoo gorillas is considered a possible cause of various diseases. One species of the plant has also been shown to work against MRSA. Phytomedics has licensed Aframomum for cosmetic purposes and Interleukin Genetics has been conducting clinical trials of the material to inhibit cytokine modulators, a component of the immune system.

- check out the article from The Washington Post on Aframomum

Chemotherapy connected to harsh side effects

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:01:39 -0500

New research appearing in the Journal of Biology shows that even low doses of chemotherapy are killing brain cells and cancer drugs are more malignant to healthy cells than diseased cells. The study focused on the effects of cisplatin, cytarabine and carmustine on rats and found that healthy cells were still dying weeks after therapy. And the harsh therapy not only targeted the dividing cells that spread cancer, but normal cells that weren't dividing. The study at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York concludes that there is solid evidence to show that chemotherapy is responsible for memory loss, vision loss and even dementia. One expert in the field said the study should act as a wake-up call and lead to new methods to protect the brains of patients subjected to chemotherapy.

- read the USA Today report

NIAID finds antibodies that neutralize H5N1

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Federal scientists at the NIAID have developed a vaccine that protects mice against the killer 1918 influenza virus. But they have also created a technique for identifying antibodies that neutralize the bird flu virus, a tool that could help contain future pandemic flu strains. These findings are important, the researchers say, to understanding and preventing the recurrence of the H1N1 influenza virus that caused the 1918 pandemic and to protecting against virulent flu strains in the future, including the H5N1 avian flu virus.

"Who would have imagined five years ago that we'd be able to create a vaccine that protects against one of the deadliest forms of influenza the world has ever seen?" said Gary J. Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Vaccine Research Center. "It's because the 1918 flu virus has been reconstructed that we are now able the further understand it. Hopefully, this virus will help us to develop effective vaccine strategies for current pandemic influenza virus threats."

- see the release from PressZoom

ALSO: Up to now it was not known how cells distinguish their own RNA from that of 'enemy' viruses. An international team of researchers have shown that the instructions from the cell's nucleus carry a kind of 'signature', which is missing in the virus commands. Release

Related Article:
At the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Bio conference, Dr. Tony Fauci, director of NIAID, delivered a fascinating speech on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as the bird flu. Article

Researchers eliminate chronic virus infection

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology demonstrated that they were able to eliminate a chronic virus infection by blocking an immune messenger molecule with a simple antibody. The researchers say that their work could have a profound impact on chronic virus infections such as hepatitis C and AIDS, noting that they were able to eliminate the virus rather than simply dampen its effect. The key to their work was blocking the interleukin-10 messenger molecule receptor, which suppresses the immune response to hep C and HIV.

"We thought, 'what if we try to correct what the immune system seems to be doing wrong in response to many chronic viral infections?'" said team leader Matthias von Herrath, M.D. "So we unleashed the power of the immune system by using an antibody to block the IL-10 receptor. This taught the immune system to take the right action and fight the disease."

- see the release on their work

ALSO: A diet rich in vegetables and fruit along with supplements of omega-3 fatty acids could play a role in preventing Alzheimer's, researchers concluded in two studies. Report

Bird flu scientist says annual mutations likely

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:01:39 -0400

A leading WHO scientist concludes that the H5N1 strain of bird flu shows all the earmarks of being able to repeatedly mutate as it develops resistance against any antiviral drugs that are deployed against it. Mike Perdue says the only two anti-viral drugs currently believed to be at least somewhat effective against the virulent bird flu--Tamiflu and Amantadine drugs--already appear to be losing their effectiveness. And Perdue says that vaccines that work one year may well be useless the next.

- read the report on WHO's conclusions from The Philadelphia Inquirer

PLUS: University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers say they have discovered a peptide that prevents the influenza virus from attaching to cells, a move that would essentially prevent the replication of the virus as it infects its host. The peptide was tested on animals and cells in culture, stopping influenza of all stripes, including bird flu. Report

ALSO: The FDA has produced new guidelines to speed the development of cell-based vaccines. The agency wants to eventually end the use of eggs in vaccine production, saying that a cell-based approach is safer and far faster. Report

AND: Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed a "competing virus" that slows the spread of influenza, making it easier to stop. They're working on developing a nasal spray to administer the therapy, which may also work against pandemic strains. Report

Vaccine team aims at ending ear, sinus infections

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:01:39 -0400

A team of researchers is preparing to begin trials of a new vaccine that is designed to eliminate childhood ear and sinus infections. Lead investigator Dr. Michael Pichichero, a professor of microbiology, immunology, pediatrics, and medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, says their effort marks a departure from most vaccine programs, which are typically focused on saving lives. In this case, the researchers are devoting themselves to eliminating common ailments. Their vaccine is aimed at Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, which is now the primary cause of bronchitis and ear and sinus infections. While these conditions are typically not life-threatening, they can cause serious physical damage and can tie up hospital emergency rooms in the flu season. Using funding from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, they will begin testing a vaccine that uses parts of the bacteria to stimulate an immune response.

- here's the article on the vaccine project from The Washington Post

Experimental vaccines show efficacy against H5N1 viruses

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 20:01:39 -0400

A team of researchers from the NIAID and MedImmune have demonstrated that experimental vaccines that use weakened segments of the H5N1 virus proved effective in protecting animals from lethal versions of bird flu. The research is particularly significant because it demonstrates that the vaccine may be effective against viral mutations that will have to occur before bird flu can trigger a human pandemic. MedImmune has one of the most advanced programs for developing a bird flu vaccine. Their work appears in the September 12 issue of PLoS Medicine.

"If an influenza pandemic were imminent or under way, we would need a vaccine that could stimulate immunity quickly, preferably with a single dose," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci., M.D. "The encouraging findings of this study suggest that vaccines based on live but weakened versions of the H5N1 avian influenza virus may quickly stimulate protective immunity. We are further exploring this live, attenuated vaccine strategy as one of several tools that we hope to have available in the event of an influenza pandemic."

- see the release on H5N1 research

Researchers identify an anthrax receptor inhibitor

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:01:39 -0400

A research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new anthrax receptor inhibitor that effectively protected six rats exposed to anthrax. The team took a new approach to developing a protective therapy against anthrax. They worked with an inhibitor that was able to bind to multiple sites on the host receptor, blocking the anthrax toxin that is secreted by anthrax bacteria from binding to the host. In theory, the new approach would be able to protect people exposed to inhalation anthrax, which can kill 75 percent of the people exposed--even after they've been given antibiotics. The scientists also note that the same approach may be able to work on influenza, AIDS and SARS.

- here's the report on the inhibitor from HealthDay News

Researchers unveil new insights into regulatory T cells

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 20:01:39 -0400

A research team at the Medical College of Georgia has determined that regulatory T cells learn to distinguish between normal body tissue and outside invaders early in life. If researchers can learn how to control T cell education in childhood, it could form the basis for preventing autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes or lupus. The team also concluded that regulatory T cells are produced in the thymus, a small organ located in the chest area. The regulatory T cells learn in the thymus to distinguish between tissue and invaders like bacteria and viruses. In mice, that learning process occurs in the first six weeks of life, roughly equivalent to the first 15 years of a human life. The team also believes that new regulatory T cells could be introduced into the body.

- read the report on T cells from Healthday