The Immune Function of Osteoclasts

Osteoclasts (OCLs) are multi-nucleated phagocytes of monocytic origin that are responsible for bone resorption. Changes in their bone resorption function are associated with various pathologies such as osteoporosis, chronic inflammation and cancer. Intensive studies investigating the regulation of OCLs...
August 21, 2019
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TAK-003 induces functional DENV cross-reactive cellular immmunity

A study by Waickman et al., aimed to investigate T cell responses induced by TAK-003. They showed that TAK-003 induces strong CD8 T cells (IFN-γ+CD107+) responses that last for at least 120 days. Induced cellular immunity was reactive to the entire DENV proteome...
August 19, 2019
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Wild is better: in-bred mice born to wild mice resemble human responses

Low microbial diversity of laboratory (lab)-mice is suggested to be one of the main contributors to the discrepancy between lab-mice and humans. Rosshart et al., thus developed a wildling mouse model that genetically resembles laboratory mice...
August 14, 2019
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Do NK cells play an important role in anti-Trypanosomiasis immunity?

Trypanosomiasis poses a serious threat to the agricultural economy. Treatment of the disease has severe side effects and currently no vaccine exists.  Onyilagha et al., aimed to determine if NK cells play an important role during acute Trypanosomiasis.
August 7, 2019
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Are MAIT cells detectable in lymph?

It is unclear whether depletion of MAIT cells in the blood is due to apoptosis or migration to sites of infection, and whether MAIT cells in blood and tissue have distinct phenotypic and functional characteristics. Voillet et al., aimed to contribute to this knowledge gap by determining if MAIT cells...
August 2, 2019
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Does S. mansoni treatment affect HIV susceptibility?

Yegorov et al.,  employed ex vivo HIV entry assays in combination with flow cytometry, cytokine measurements and transcriptome analysis to gain insight on how standard praziquantel schistosomiasis therapy affects systemic and genital immunology of Ugandan women.
August 1, 2019
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Investigating the HIV viral reservoir during acute infection 

CD4 TSCM and TCM cells are considered to play a major role in long-term maintenance of the viral reservoir. However, research of the viral reservoir during acute phase of HIV infection is limited. As a result, cross continental research aimed to expand on this ...
July 29, 2019
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How does BCG affect early innate immune responses?

To determine if BCG affects early kinetics of M.tb infection and lymphocyte recruitment, Delahaye et al., compared immune responses between naive- and BCG-vaccinated mice infected with M.tb. They showed that though BCG vaccination...
July 24, 2019
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Sex associated differences to flu vaccination: role of estradiol?

Researchers have observed sex differences influenza vaccine induced immunity, illustrated by faster seroconversion, higher titres of neutralising antibodies and lower hospitalisation rates in females compared to males. Most of these studies ...
July 19, 2019
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Propagation of α-synuclein from the gut to brain – new causation for Parkinson’s disease? 

The cause of Parkinson’s Disease is unknown, with research pointing towards a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. New research by Kim et al., however has ...
July 17, 2019
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