infectious disease, immunology

Researchers found a previously undiscovered hepadnavirus in an immunocompromised cat.

T-cell therapies are not just for cancer. Researchers are also advancing immunotherapy methods to protect bone marrow transplant patients from viral infections. 

Another case of HIV remission emerges, this time in a South African girl diagnosed as an infant and disease-free for more than eight years.

Julius Youngner collaborated with Jonas Salk on the polio vaccine, and later identified interferon gamma and contributed to an equine influenza vaccine.

Mice that live in a more-stimulating environment for two weeks appear to develop a more-inflammatory immune state that might help protect the animals against infection. 

The proteins could be the key to stopping the transmissible facial tumor disease that is threatening the species.

Certain immune cells surrounding the organ appear to block viral entry.

The “just right” binding properties of a monoclonal antibody from an Ebolavirus survivor help it neutralize the virus.

Health officials suspect recently reported cases of the disease in Liberia might stem from a flare-up of the virus in a survivor who became pregnant.

The World Health Organization recommends more pilot trials.

Researchers characterize a protein that could be key to the virus’s virulence—and to developing a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

Engineered immunogens based on conserved patches of the virus’s envelope protein point to new strategies for vaccine design.

From diagnostics to vaccines, llama antibodies point to new directions in HIV research.

An immune protein previously thought to mark inactive T cells has a free-floating form that correlates with HIV disease progression.

Recent discoveries are spurring a renaissance in HIV vaccine research and development.

New understanding of noncoding RNAs may solve a long-standing puzzle about how viruses orchestrate lifelong infections.
 

Ebola, MERS, and enterovirus D68; polio eradication efforts; new regulations on potentially dangerous research

A carbohydrate antigen found on cells of E. coli and other species prompts a potent immune response against malaria-causing parasites in mice.

Alan Aderem earned his PhD while under house arrest for protesting apartheid in South Africa. His early political involvement has guided his scientific focus, encouraging fellow systems biologists to study immunology and infectious diseases.

With much of his early career dictated by US Navy interests, Carl June drew inspiration from malaria, bone marrow transplantation, and HIV in his roundabout path to a breakthrough in cancer immunotherapy.