New target for HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccine discovered
...ction. DCs are instrumental in identifying foreign invaders to the body and then orchestrating an immune response that ultimately removes them. NK cells are among the first cells summoned by DCs to help isolate and contain the infection until more potent reinforcements can be manufactured to eradicate the vir...Genomic analysis uncovers new targets for HIV vaccine
...r role in the immune system by identifying foreign invaders and tagging them for destruction. Two of the HLA genes, known as HLA-A and B, are turned off by HIV when it enters the body, which keeps the immune system from recognizing the virus as foreign. HLA-C however is not thought to be turned off by HIV-...White blood cells are picky about sugar
...bacteria and fungi, identifying and destroying any invaders that cross their path. But new evidence, which may lead to better drugs to fight deadly pathogens, indicates that neutrophils might actually distinguish among their targets. A scientist in the lab of Whitehead Member Gerald Fink has discovered that...Critical protein prevents DNA damage from persisting through generations
... immune cells responsible for hunting down foreign invaders and labeling them for destruction -- they rearrange their DNA to create various surface receptors that can accurately identify different intruders, a process called V(D)J recombination. Now, in an study published online today in the journal Cell, Roc...Hives ferment a yeasty brew, attract beetle pest
.... and Europe have been suffering from a variety of invaders and ailments including varroa mite infestations, fungal infections and beetles. Recently, beekeepers in the U.S. reported occurrences of Colony Collapse Disorder, a syndrome where hives are found abandoned, except for the queen and a few workers. Bee...Herpes infection may be symbiotic, help beat back some bacteria
...ldiers on yellow alert, causing them to patrol for invaders with their eyes wide open and defense weapons ready." Other scientists previously had shown that interferon gamma helps the immune system fight off some strains of bacteria. This led Virgin and his colleagues to test herpes-infected mice with exposu...UCLA AIDS Institute researchers find a peptide that encourages HIV infection
...efends against viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders is reversed, the peptide actually encourages infection with HIV. The findings, published in the April issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, could pave the way for the use of such peptides in gene therapy using HIV-based vectors as the deli...Alien plants attack using 'resource conservation' as weapon, researchers say
...urces. The finding, which sheds new light on how invaders achieve success, may change the way scientists thi... with low nutrients and a desert. They compared 19 invaders with 19 closely related indigenous plants-for example, an invasive raspberry versus a native raspber...Trojan horse strategy defeats drug-resistant bacteria
...ms to keep iron away from infecting organisms, and invaders must steal some if they are to survive." Iron is critical for the growth of bacteria and for their ability to form biofilms, slime-encased colonies of microbes that cause many chronic infections. "Because iron is so important in infection, we tho...Disease opened door to invading species in California
...e native plants would have been able to rebuff the invaders and persist, rather than being overtaken, the study concluded. "Not only were the native grasses under constant challenge from this disease, but the characteristics of the new grasses helped to spread the disease much more efficiently," Borer said...Can engineered immune cells stop AIDS?
...y, Wang wants to synthetically alter the HIV viral invaders and use their hollow shells as delivery vehicles to insert DNA that will counteract the infection. The "Cadillac" of this gene delivery system is an HIV-based "lentiviral vector," a type of retrovirus that uses the backbone of a virus to in...'Home run' study on spread of disease published
...n of invasive snails with parasitic flatworms. The invaders were probably transported with Japanese seed oysters imported into the waters of the Pacific Northwest over a century ago. It is the first comprehensive genetic analysis of an invasive marine host and its parasites. The study points to broad implicat...HIV-1 kills immune cells in the gut that may never bounce back
... cells -- immune cells responsible for recognizing invaders and priming other cells for attack. Intrigued, Martin Markowitz, an Aaron Diamond Professor at Rockefeller University and a staff scientist at ADARC, wanted to know whether this loss was reversible, and whether giving patients HAART during the early ...Modeling alien invasions: Plasticity may hold the key to prevention
... effectively acted as a barrier to invasion unless invaders were given a huge competitive advantage (a 40% low...u, then decline) optimum foraging behaviors. Since invaders had not undergone selection in the new environment, deviating from their foraging optimum could plac...Different strategies underlie the ecology of microbial invasions
...xample, depending on whether the bacteria are rare invaders or abundant residents. The findings, reported by a group of researchers including Sam P. Brown of the University of Texas at Austin, Cambridge University, and University of Montpellier II, and Franois Taddei of University of Paris, appear in the Octo...Tiny Tampa Bay fish key to evolution of immune system
...ing an innate immune system, which defends against invaders by recognizing predetermined patterns of molecules. About 520 million years ago, a different form of immunity emerged - the adaptive immune system, shared by humans and other organisms with jaws and vertebrae. This type relies on an army of antibodie...Research reveals inner workings of immune system 'thermostat'
...h the soldiers. These "hot" protein compounds kill invaders but also trigger inflammation, which, if unchecked, can destroy tissue, induce shock and kill the host. So immune system cells let loose another protein compound to cool down the immune response. Precisely how this immune system "thermostat" opera...Invasive species alter habitat to their benefit
...mply observing such changes doesn't prove that the invaders are responsible. University of Michigan researc...d transplant experiments to figure out whether the invaders were causing the changes she observed. She set up four study plots in a previously uninvaded section...Finding paves way for better treatment of autoimmune disease
...components of the immune system designed to attack invaders such as bacteria and viruses; regulatory T cells are a small subset that prevents the cells from also attacking body tissue. Research published in the August issue of Nature Methods shows that, given the option, phospholipase D, which typically mi...