Strunz et al reported that progesterone-regulated release of stromal interleukin-15 drives continuous uterine natural killer cell differentiation in response to endometrial generation. Researchers used surface proteome...
February 2021
Global ImmunoTalk on dissecting the interaction of parasites with the immune system
Maria Yazdanbakhsh began her Global ImmunoTalk on with the quote “Parasites have done more for the immune system that the immune system for parasites”. This quote emphasises how much our...
Researchers may have found a way to “cure” cat allergies?
Researchers aimed to boost immune tolerance to the major cat allergen Fel-d-1 by using high doses of CpG to increase the anti‐inflammatory activity of allergen-specific immunotherapy. They specifically chose high doses of CpG because it promotes Tregs.
The antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 501Y.v2 variant and vaccine implications
Multiple studies from South Africa suggest that current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines based on the unmutated virus could have reduced efficacy in protecting against infection by the 501Y.V2 variant. We still need to determine if current vaccines protect against severe COVID-19.
Do mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants reduce the functional activity of mRNA-vaccine elicited Abs?
Wang et al. demonstrated that mutations found in new SARS-Cov-2 variants can reduce the neutralisation potency of mRNA-COVID-19 vaccinee and convalescent plasma against SARS-CoV-2 pseudo-typed viruses.
IUIS/Immunopaedia-Frontiers Webinar on Immunoregulation and the tumor microenvironment
Prof. Ohashi presentation focused on PD-1 blockade, specifically why PD-1 based immunotherapies work for some cancers but not others. She began with an overview of PD-1...
Are current putative COVID-19 vaccines effective against the B.1.351 variants?
Webinar by SA government featuring talks by Professors Shabir Madhi, Glenda Gray and Salim Abdool Karim suggests lower efficacy against the ChAdOx1/nCoV-19 vaccine (22%) but moderate to good efficacy of the Ad26 Vaccine (57%) against the B.1.351 variant.
Phase 2a trial provides evidence for potential pancreatic cancer immunotherapy
Bockorny et al., demonstrated the utility of pembrolizumab, BL-8040 and chemotherapy against pancreatic cancer which resulted in better outcome (7/22 experiencing partial response) compared to immunotherapy without chemotherapy.
COVID-19 is associated with increased MAIT cell activation and cytotoxicity
Flament et al., studied the immune cell landscape with respect to the MAIT cells, in a total of 208 patients at various stages of COVID-19. Their findings suggest a relationship between the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection and MAIT cell activation/cytotoxicity.
Saliva viral load could be a potential correlate of severe COVID-19
Silva et al., found that saliva viral load was significantly higher in people with COVID-19 risk factors, correlated with increased disease severity, and was a stronger predictor of mortality over time compared to nasopharyngeal viral load.