June 2021

HIV-1 and TB co-infection skews the SARS-CoV-2 T cell response. Riou et al, results reinforce the crucial role of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in COVID-19 disease development and support the concept of altered T cell functions in patients with severe disease.

Barreto-Vargas, et al., evaluated the WNT7A expression in different subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCS). The data indicates that WNT7A regulates cell proliferation and might act as a new marker for resting mature T cells.

Researchers are investigating alternative strategies to life-long anti-retroviral treatment. An example of such a study, is the antibody (Ab)-mediated protection proof-of-concept trial that tested whether HIV-specific broadly neutralising Ab VRC01 can...

In a recent study, Lu and colleagues investigated whether reactivation of individual latent cells occurs stochastically in response to LRAs or is a deterministic outcome of an underlying cell state. Using Jurkat latency model of HIV-1...

Fabrizio De Benedetti gave examples of clinical presentations and laboratory features of hyper-inflammation with a focus on hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and macrophage activation syndrome (MAS).

Anita McElroy describes the cellular immune landscape that occurs following Ebola virus infection and will correlate these findings with key features of Ebola virus disease.

Non-specific effects of BCG vaccine have generated a lot of interest with researchers proposing that it likely protects against respiratory viruses like the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Though this is still under investigation, evidence on its heterologous protection...

In a recent IUIS-Immunopaedia-Frontiers in Immunology webinar, Claudia Mauri discussed how microbial products induce B-regs and their relevance for arthritis pathology. Murine models of arthritis have demonstrated that pathology is associated...

Professor Rothlin began by giving a brief history of cancer immunotherapy, starting with the first documented description of the tumour immune infiltrate by Virchow in 1863. She then highlighted the discovery of Coley’s toxin, a combination...

Prof. Olivera Finn from the University of Pittsburgh gave an informative talk on therapeutic cancer vaccines. She pointed out that it is only as recent as the 1980s that scientists started to consider immunotherapy as a method to combat cancer.