Category Archives: Immunology

Immunology

Johns Hopkins Researchers: Climate Change Threatens to Unlock New Microbes and Increase Heat-Related Illness and Death – Newswise

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Newswise The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) recently published Viewpoint articles by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professors who warn that global climate change is likely to unlock dangerous new microbes, as well as threaten humans ability to regulate body temperature.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professors Rexford Ahima, M.D., Ph.D., and Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., along with William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the George Washington Universitys Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness, and Susan Pacheco, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, authored journal articles relevant to their fields that detail how rising temperatures around the world pose dangerous threats to humanity.

Ahima, director of Johns Hopkins Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, wrote in the journal that global warming threatens human thermoregulation and survival.

Ahima explains that people generate body heat and have the capacity to regulate their temperature within a few degrees. But as heat waves become more common, more severe, and longer, we expect to see more heat-related illnesses and deaths, he writes.

Ahima cites a recent study that examined global heat-related mortality, pointing out that tropical and subtropical countries and regions will experience the sharpest surge in illness and death stemming from higher temperatures, while the United States and Europe can also expect increases.

Casadevalls article explores the specter of new infectious diseases as a result of the changing climate.

Given that microbes can adapt to higher temperatures, writes the professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, and infectious diseases, at Johns Hopkins schools of medicine and public health, there is concern that global warming will select for microbes with higher heat tolerance that can defeat our endothermy defenses and bring new infectious diseases.

Endothermy allows humans and other warm-blooded mammals to maintain high temperatures that can protect against infectious diseases by inhibiting many types of microbes.

Casadevall cites a particular climate threat from the fungal kingdom.

We have proposed that global warming will lead many fungal species to adapt to higher temperatures, he writes, and some with pathogenic potential for humans will break through the defensive barrier provided by endothermy.

As an example, Casadevall points to the rise of Candida auris, a species of fungus identified in 2009 and called a catastrophic threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017.

The nearly simultaneous emergence of Candida auris on three continents, an event proposed to result from global warming, has raised the specter that increased warmth by itself will trigger adaptations on certain microbes to make them pathogenic for humans.

Casadevall says that, while fungi present the most immediate threat, other microbes also adapt to evolving conditions such as temperature. He writes that the conceptual threat originally identified with fungi, and exemplified by C. auris as the canary in the coal mine, applies across the microbial world.

Dietzs article addresses climate change and malnutrition, calling obesity, undernutrition and climate change a syndemic, or multiple epidemics that interact and share common underlying social or economic determinants and policy drivers. In her article, Pacheco discusses climate changes adverse consequences regarding pregnancy and maternal, fetal and child health.

In all four JCI Viewpoint articles, long-term strategies are urged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the trend of rising temperatures.

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Johns Hopkins Researchers: Climate Change Threatens to Unlock New Microbes and Increase Heat-Related Illness and Death - Newswise

Immunology

What’s on Your Shelf? Recommended Reading in the New Year – Healio

Over the past few years in this column, I have occasionally shouted out a book I have read and I have occasionally been rewarded by more than a few of my readers then sharing with me their thoughts and experiences of these same works. As the first editorial of 2020, I thought it might be fun to go to my bookshelf and share a number of the titles I have read over the past year.

I always read both nonfiction and fiction at the same time, but I am only going to give you my nonfiction picks. To get my fiction reading list, you will have to buy me a glass of wine so I can wave my hands and tell you why I picked certain books. A second caveat is that I must be truthful and tell you that I often buy the Kindle version of a nonfiction book first, and if I really like it, then I buy the real deal because I like to write and scribble in my books. I am not sure what that says about me but thats the way it is and virtually all have come into my passion this way.

Leonard H.Calabrese

There is no total unifying theme of the nine books I am recommending to you but, after looking at this stack, I think I found a few threads. My intention in this column is to give you enough information that will tempt you to pick one or more up on the basis of our shared interests. The first theme surrounds my work, namely the field of immunology in all its glory. There are three books that deal with my field and thus one may wonder what there could be in books written for the lay public that would make heart a card-carrying immunology guys heart sing to read? The answer is easy. Its all about the humanity.

In An Elegant Defense, Matt Richtel recounts stories of real patients with HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer intersecting with therapeutic advances in the field, and the enormous impact these changes have had on them. In The Breakthrough, Charles Graeber details the backstory of the people behind the development of checkpoint inhibitors, including many colorful interviews with Nobel Laureate James P. Allison, PhD even for me, actively working in the field, this was a terrific read.

Finally, the real sleeper in the immunology cassette, is The Beautiful Cure by Daniel M. Davis, which despite not garnering the press it deserves, in my opinion is a brilliant treatise on the evolution of the field of immunology over the past century. The book is written in scholarly fashion, but laced with terrific backstories in the style of The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Read it!

Switching gears, The Compassionate Connection by David Rakel and Suggestible You by Eric Vance are all about placebo science and the role of interpersonal relationships in building wellness and healing. Both of these are great reads and I am planning on a cover story/roundtable in the spring on placebo science in rheumatology. See how this works now?

The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD, a leading researcher in aging/longevity research is a terrific read on something we all share an interest in namely how to eat and living a long life. I find choosing books in the wellness field often problematic given the myriad of bugnutty offerings out there, but I assure you, Dr. Longo is a scientist in the truest sense of the word. I recently hosted him at my 2019 Cleveland Clinic Biologic Therapies VIII Summit, a presentation you will be able to watch when it posts on our website in the near future.

In my previous editorials in February 2019 and April 2019, I have already discussed the profound impact of The Empathy Effect by Helen Reiss, MD, and Deep Medicine by Eric Topol, MD, so I will not expound on them again if you havent picked up by now, please do. Perhaps counterintuitively, I believe these books on empathy and artificial intelligence are intimately related. As I have written in the past, one of the most exciting and challenging areas of investigation lying ahead is how to bring empathy to the growing onslaught of AI, machine learning and technology. We must figure this out.

Finally, why did Leonardo Da Vinci, by the noted biographer Walter Isaacson, make it to my bedside reading table? There are many reasons, perhaps prominent among them that 2019 was the 500th anniversary of the death of the most curious man with the greatest mind the world has ever known. Probably more important is a passion to learn about him instilled by a friend and a physician, humanist and Da Vinci scholar, Sal Mangione, MD, from Thomas Jefferson University.

I have heard Dr. Mangione speak on Da Vinci many times, and he has also graced our Medical Grand Rounds podium frequently discussing art, observation and humanism. His passion for the life, work and genius of Leonardo Da Vinci is quite infectious, and the book is a great start to understanding the master Thank you Sal, I am hooked.

These are my nonfiction picks from the last year tell me about yours through Twitter at @LCalabreseDO or email me at calabrl@ccf.org.

Disclosures: Calabrese reports consulting relationships with AbbVie, Centecor Biopharmaceutical, Crescendo Bioscience, GlaxoSmithKline, Horizon Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and UCB.

Over the past few years in this column, I have occasionally shouted out a book I have read and I have occasionally been rewarded by more than a few of my readers then sharing with me their thoughts and experiences of these same works. As the first editorial of 2020, I thought it might be fun to go to my bookshelf and share a number of the titles I have read over the past year.

I always read both nonfiction and fiction at the same time, but I am only going to give you my nonfiction picks. To get my fiction reading list, you will have to buy me a glass of wine so I can wave my hands and tell you why I picked certain books. A second caveat is that I must be truthful and tell you that I often buy the Kindle version of a nonfiction book first, and if I really like it, then I buy the real deal because I like to write and scribble in my books. I am not sure what that says about me but thats the way it is and virtually all have come into my passion this way.

Leonard H.Calabrese

There is no total unifying theme of the nine books I am recommending to you but, after looking at this stack, I think I found a few threads. My intention in this column is to give you enough information that will tempt you to pick one or more up on the basis of our shared interests. The first theme surrounds my work, namely the field of immunology in all its glory. There are three books that deal with my field and thus one may wonder what there could be in books written for the lay public that would make heart a card-carrying immunology guys heart sing to read? The answer is easy. Its all about the humanity.

In An Elegant Defense, Matt Richtel recounts stories of real patients with HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer intersecting with therapeutic advances in the field, and the enormous impact these changes have had on them. In The Breakthrough, Charles Graeber details the backstory of the people behind the development of checkpoint inhibitors, including many colorful interviews with Nobel Laureate James P. Allison, PhD even for me, actively working in the field, this was a terrific read.

Finally, the real sleeper in the immunology cassette, is The Beautiful Cure by Daniel M. Davis, which despite not garnering the press it deserves, in my opinion is a brilliant treatise on the evolution of the field of immunology over the past century. The book is written in scholarly fashion, but laced with terrific backstories in the style of The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Read it!

Switching gears, The Compassionate Connection by David Rakel and Suggestible You by Eric Vance are all about placebo science and the role of interpersonal relationships in building wellness and healing. Both of these are great reads and I am planning on a cover story/roundtable in the spring on placebo science in rheumatology. See how this works now?

The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD, a leading researcher in aging/longevity research is a terrific read on something we all share an interest in namely how to eat and living a long life. I find choosing books in the wellness field often problematic given the myriad of bugnutty offerings out there, but I assure you, Dr. Longo is a scientist in the truest sense of the word. I recently hosted him at my 2019 Cleveland Clinic Biologic Therapies VIII Summit, a presentation you will be able to watch when it posts on our website in the near future.

PAGE BREAK

In my previous editorials in February 2019 and April 2019, I have already discussed the profound impact of The Empathy Effect by Helen Reiss, MD, and Deep Medicine by Eric Topol, MD, so I will not expound on them again if you havent picked up by now, please do. Perhaps counterintuitively, I believe these books on empathy and artificial intelligence are intimately related. As I have written in the past, one of the most exciting and challenging areas of investigation lying ahead is how to bring empathy to the growing onslaught of AI, machine learning and technology. We must figure this out.

Finally, why did Leonardo Da Vinci, by the noted biographer Walter Isaacson, make it to my bedside reading table? There are many reasons, perhaps prominent among them that 2019 was the 500th anniversary of the death of the most curious man with the greatest mind the world has ever known. Probably more important is a passion to learn about him instilled by a friend and a physician, humanist and Da Vinci scholar, Sal Mangione, MD, from Thomas Jefferson University.

I have heard Dr. Mangione speak on Da Vinci many times, and he has also graced our Medical Grand Rounds podium frequently discussing art, observation and humanism. His passion for the life, work and genius of Leonardo Da Vinci is quite infectious, and the book is a great start to understanding the master Thank you Sal, I am hooked.

These are my nonfiction picks from the last year tell me about yours through Twitter at @LCalabreseDO or email me at calabrl@ccf.org.

Disclosures: Calabrese reports consulting relationships with AbbVie, Centecor Biopharmaceutical, Crescendo Bioscience, GlaxoSmithKline, Horizon Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and UCB.

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What's on Your Shelf? Recommended Reading in the New Year - Healio

Immunology

Cancer immune cell: what have scientists discovered? – The Week UK

The discovery of a killer cell in the human immune system could lead to a one-size-fits-all cancer treatment, according to a newly published study.

The team of Cardiff University researchers who made the find say the T-cell has already been used in lab tests to attack and destroyprostate, breast, lung and other cancer cells.

Although no tests have been conducted yet on human patients, scientists say the findings - outlined in a newly publishedpaperin the journal Nature Immunology -haveenormous potential, the BBC reports.

One of the most groundbreaking advances in the fight against cancer in recent years is a treatment known as CAR-T immunotherapy. This therapy involves harvesting a patients immune T-cells and reprogramming them to target specific proteins found on the patients cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells undamaged, explains science news siteNew Atlas.

However, a major limitation facing researchers of CAR-T therapies has been the lack of a universal T-cell receptor (TCR) that can target different kinds of cancers in all patients.

But the T-cell discovered by the Welsh university team appears to be equipped with a new type of TCR that does exactly that.

This T-cell recognises a molecule present on the surface of a wide range of cancer cells, and normal cells, and is able to distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells - killing only the latter, The Independentreports.

In lab tests on mice and human cells, the T-cells equipped with the new TCR has been found to kill lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney and cervical cancer cells.

If these sorts of effects can be replicated in humans,says ScienceAlert, we could be looking at a bright new future for T-cell treatments.

According to Wales Online, experiments are under way to determine the precise molecular mechanism by which the new TCR distinguishes between healthy cells and cancer, and researchers hope to begin human patients towards the end of this year following further safety testing.

Cardiff University professor Awen Gallimore, a cancer immunology lead for the Wales Cancer Research Centre, said: If this transformative new finding holds up, it will lay the foundation for a universal T-cell medicine, mitigating against the tremendous costs associated with the identification, generation and manufacture of personalised T-cells.

This is truly exciting and potentially a great step forward for the accessibility of cancer immunotherapy.

Alasdair Rankin of blood cancer charity Bloodwise added: This research represents a new way of targeting cancer cells that is really quite exciting, although much more research is needed to understand precisely how it works.

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Cancer immune cell: what have scientists discovered? - The Week UK

Immunology

Hope for patients with a rare genetic condition linked to severe infections – Newswise

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Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, January 2020

Newswise A team of researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine and Universit de Montral has shed light on the mechanisms that underlie a rare genetic condition by creating the first cellular model of the disease. The study's findings were published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare hereditary condition that affects one in every 217,000 people worldwide and typically strikes patients at an early age.

It is a primary innate immune defect that typically leads to severe, recurrent infections caused by bacteria and fungi, as well as potentially disabling lung inflammation or inflammatory colitis similar to Crohns disease, said senior author Dr.FabienTouzot, a clinical assistant professor in pediatric medicine at UdeM and researcher in pediatric immunology and hematology at CHU Sainte-Justine.

Currently, patients are forced to take antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs for the rest of their lives.

Gene editing shows the way forward

To better understand the mechanisms that trigger inflammation in patients with CGD, Touzot and his research team created the very first cellular model of the disease in their labs at CHU Sainte-Justine. They then used a technique known as gene editing to recreate and introduce into their model a genetic mutation that causes the disease. This allowed them to model the inflammatory response observed in patients and to study its mechanisms.

CGD is a hereditary illness caused by mutations in the NADPH oxidase enzyme. These mutations prevent white blood cells from working properly and, as a result, the patients body can no longer defend itself against certain kinds of bacteria and fungi, said researcher Aissa Benyoucef, the studys first author.

More than 90% of affected patients have inflammation that appears to be unrelated to infectious agents," he added. "Treating this inflammation is difficult, since it can put patients at increased risk of infection, which can sometimes be fatal. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disease could help us develop new and more effective treatment strategies.

The research team showed that restoring NADPH oxydase function in defective cells would put the immune process back on track, thereby proving that this genetic mutation plays a direct role in causing inflammation.

CHU Sainte-Justine is one of Quebecs leading centres of expertise in rare genetic diseases," said Touzot. "Were proud to serve patients by expanding the knowledge base in this area and by contributing to the development of precision medicine."

The new cellular model will be useful for the development of targeted treatments that are less toxic and more effective in treating inflammation, significantly improving patient quality of life, according to the researchers.

About this study

CRISPR gene-engineered CYBBko THP-1 cell lines highlight the crucial role of NADPH-induced reactive oxygen species for regulating inflammasome activation was published in the January 2020 edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The first author is Aissa Benyoucef, PhD, a lab employee under the supervision of Dr. Fabien Touzot. The senior author is Dr. Touzot, MD, PhD, a clinical assistant professor at Universit de Montreals Department of Pediatrics and clinician-researcher in pediatric immunology and hematology at CHU Sainte-Justine. The study was paid by a CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre start-up fund and by Fondation Charles-Bruneau.

About the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre

The CHU Saint-Justine Research Centre is a flagship institution in mother-child research affiliated with Universit de Montral. Focused on the discovery of innovative means of prevention, less intrusive and faster treatments and promising avenues of personalized medicine, it brings together more than 210 researchers, including more than 90 clinical researchers, as well as 450 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The centre is an integral part of the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, the largest mother-child centre in Canada. Details at https://research.chusj.org/en/Home

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Hope for patients with a rare genetic condition linked to severe infections - Newswise

Immunology

New breakthrough discovery in immune system could treat all types of cancer – News Heads

New Delhi : A newly-discovered part of our immune system can be used to save and cure you from all types of cancers, say scientists.

A team of Cardiff University scientists discovered have discovered a method to kill prostate, breast, lung and other cancers in lab tests.

The findings from their study have been published in Nature Immunology. However, the procedure is yet to be tested on a patient, the scientists are positive and have a strong belief that this will turn in their favour.

Progress till date

Human body has its natural defence to the diseases, commonly known as immune system. The scientists were looking for "unconventional" and previously undiscovered ways the immune system naturally attacks tumours.

During the research, they found that T-cell inside human blood that keeps a check on the body to locate which part of the body has a threat to the disease and needs to be eliminated.

The difference is this one could attack a wide range of cancers.

"There's a chance here to treat every patient," researcher Prof Andrew Sewell told the BBC.

He added: "Previously nobody believed this could be possible.

"It raises the prospect of a 'one-size-fits-all' cancer treatment, a single type of T-cell that could be capable of destroying many different types of cancers across the population."

How does T-Cell work?

T-cells have "receptors" on their surface that allow them to "see" at a chemical level.

The Cardiff team discovered a T-cell and its receptor that could find and kill a wide range of cancerous cells in the lab including lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney and cervical cancer cells.

Crucially, it left normal tissues untouched.

How would the treatment be done?

According to the scientists, a blood sample would be taken from the patient to locate T Cells then they will be genetically modified and placed back in the blood and then into the human body.

The new modified T cells will no locate the cancer-causing threats and would eliminate them automatically without causing any damage to other parts of our body.

Expert Researchers Reaction to the study

Lucia Mori and Gennaro De Libero, from the University of Basel in Switzerland, said the research had "great potential" but was at too early a stage to say it would work in all cancers.

"We are very excited about the immunological functions of this new T-cell population and the potential use of their TCRs in tumour cell therapy," they said.

Daniel Davis, a professor of immunology at the University of Manchester, said: "At the moment, this is very basic research and not close to actual medicines for patients.

"There is no question that it's a very exciting discovery, both for advancing our basic knowledge about the immune system and for the possibility of future new medicines."

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New breakthrough discovery in immune system could treat all types of cancer - News Heads

Immunology

Hairy cells in the nose called brush cells may be involved in causing allergies – Science News

Some hairy cells in the nose may triggersneezing and allergies to dust mites, mold and other substances, new work withmice suggests.

When exposed to allergens, these brushcells make chemicals that lead to inflammation, researchers report January17 in Science Immunology. Only immunecells previously were thought to make such inflammatory chemicals fattycompounds known as lipids. The findings may provide new clues about how peopledevelop allergies.

Brush cells are shaped like teardropstopped by tufts of hairlike projections. In people, mice and other animals, thesecells are also found in the linings of the trachea and the intestines, wherethey are known as tuftcells (SN: 4/13/18). However, brushcells are far more common in the nose than in other tissues, and may help thebody identify when pathogens or noxious chemicals have been inhaled, says LoraBankova, an allergist and immunologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital inBoston.

Bankova and her colleagues discoveredthat, when exposed to certain molds or dust mite proteins, brush cells inmices noses churn out inflammation-producing lipids, called cysteinylleukotrienes. The cells also made the lipids when encountering ATP, a chemical usedby cells for energy that also signals when nearby cells are damaged, as in aninfection. Mice exposed to allergens or ATP developed swelling of their nasaltissues. But mice that lacked brush cells suffered much less inflammation.

Such inflammation may lead to allergiesin some cases. The researchers havent yet confirmed that brush cells in humannoses respond to allergens in the same way as these cells do in mice.

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Hairy cells in the nose called brush cells may be involved in causing allergies - Science News

Immunology

Mundipharma Enters Partnership With Samsung Bioepis to Expand Biosimilars Into Hong Kong and Taiwan – Yahoo Finance

Mundipharma today announced a partnership with Samsung Bioepis to commercialize Samsung Bioepis first-wave biosimilar candidates in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The partnership covers Samsung Bioepis biosimilar candidates in the field of immunology and oncology, including SB5 (adalimumab), SB4 (etanercept), SB3 (trastuzumab), and SB8 (bevacizumab).

Through the partnership, Mundipharma will be the exclusive commercialization partner, while Samsung Bioepis will remain the Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAH), responsible for clinical development, regulatory registration, and manufacture of the biosimilars.

"This partnership brings together Samsung Bioepis proven biosimilar development platform with Mundipharmas commercial acumen and market insight and ability to increase patient access to proven treatments," said Mundipharma CEO, Raman Singh. "This partnership will help to address the patient need in two important territories in Asia for immunology and oncology treatments," he added.

About Mundipharma

Mundipharmas independent associated companies are privately owned entities covering the worlds pharmaceutical markets. Mundipharma is a prime example of a company that consistently delivers high quality products while standing by the values that represent the company. Our mission is to alleviate the suffering of patients with cancer and non-cancer pain and to substantially improve their quality of life. Mundipharma is dedicated to bringing to patients with severe and debilitating diseases the benefit of novel treatment options in fields such as pain, oncology, oncology supportive care, ophthalmology, respiratory disease and consumer healthcare. For more information please visit: http://www.mundipharma.com.sg.

About Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd.

Established in 2012, Samsung Bioepis is a biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing healthcare that is accessible to everyone. Through innovations in product development and a firm commitment to quality, Samsung Bioepis aims to become the world's leading biopharmaceutical company. Samsung Bioepis continues to advance a broad pipeline of biosimilar candidates that cover a spectrum of therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, ophthalmology and hematology. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and Biogen. For more information, please visit: http://www.samsungbioepis.com and follow us on social media Twitter, LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200116005483/en/

Contacts

Stephenie VaskoChief Communications Officer & Head, Digital Strategy Asia Pacific, Latin America the Middle East & Africa+65-6303-9732 | media@mundipharma.com.sg

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Mundipharma Enters Partnership With Samsung Bioepis to Expand Biosimilars Into Hong Kong and Taiwan - Yahoo Finance

Immunology

@UMmedschool expert available to comment on coronavirus outbreak; he is studying the virus and how it spreads. – Newswise

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Newswise Matthew Frieman, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is available for interviews on the coronavirus outbreak in China that is spreading to other countries including the U.S. He plans to study the virus by synthesizing it in his lab and from samples provided to him from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

His research goal is to create therapeutic interventions for viruses of public health concern by developing a detailed understanding of how the viruses interact with the host. His research has focused on the recently emerged and highly pathogenic coronaviruses: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Both viruses cause severe lung disease, are highly lethal and yet there are no FDA approved therapeutics that target them.

His work has been highlighted in The Washington Post, NPR, and STAT.

Quote: With new cases in Japan, Thailand, and now the U.S., and with the number of cases in China now totaling in the hundreds, there is clear evidence human-to-human spread of this virus, which will make it problematic to control.

Some of Dr. Friemans published research findings on these viruses and potential new treatments appear below:

Coleman CM, Sisk JM, Mingo RM,Nelson EA, White JM,Frieman MB. 2016.Abelson Kinase Inhibitors Are Potent Inhibitors of Severe Acute RespiratorySyndromeCoronavirus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Fusion. JVirol 90:8924-8933.

Luke T, Wu H, Zhao J, Channappanavar R, Coleman CM, Jiao JA, Matsushita H, Liu Y, Postnikova EN, Ork BL, Glenn G, Flyer D, Defang G, Raviprakash K, Kochel T,Wang J, Nie W, Smith G, Hensley LE, Olinger GG, Kuhn JH, Holbrook MR, Johnson RF, Perlman S, Sullivan E,Frieman MB. 2016. Human polyclonal immunoglobulinfrom transchromosomic bovines inhibits MERS-CoV in vivo. Sci Transl Med 8:326ra321.

Dyall J, Coleman CM, Hart BJ,Venkataraman T, Holbrook MR, Kindrachuk J, Johnson RF, Olinger GG, Jr.,Jahrling PB, Laidlaw M, Johansen LM, Lear-Rooney CM,Glass PJ, Hensley LE,Frieman MB. 2014. Repurposing ofclinically developed drugs for treatment of Middle East respiratory syndromecoronavirus infection. AntimicrobAgents Chemother 58:4885-4893.

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@UMmedschool expert available to comment on coronavirus outbreak; he is studying the virus and how it spreads. - Newswise

Immunology

Scientists find immune cells that fight tumours from within – The Straits Times

TOKYO Lurking deep inside some tumours are "factories" full of immune cells that help the body fight a rearguard action against cancer and are key to helping some patients recover, new research has shown.

In recent years, doctors have turned to a new treatment for cancer - immunotherapy - that works by leveraging the body's immune system to fight tumours.

The technique has largely focused on white blood cells called T-cells, which are "trained" to recognise and attack cancer cells.

But the innovative treatment works well for only around 20 per cent of patients, so researchers have been trying to understand why some people respond better than others.

Three papers published last Thursday in the journal Nature point the way, identifying a key formation inside some tumours: tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS).

TLS function like factories or schools for immune cells that help the body fight cancer, said Professor Wolf Fridman, a professor emeritus of immunology at the Cordeliers Research Centre of the Paris Descartes University medical school, who led one of the studies.

He said the cells need to be educated in "schools" - the TLS - where they learn to recognise and attack cancer cells.

Key to the findings is that T-cells are far from the only immune cells capable of taking the fight to cancer. Researchers found the TLS were full of B-cells, a kind of immune cell that produces antibodies.

"We have been T-cell addicts for 15 years in cancer," Prof Fridman said. "We analysed these sarcomas to see what groups they had and what's striking is that these B-cells appeared."

Dr Beth Helmink, a fellow in surgical oncology at the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Centre, who worked on a second study, said the research had changed perceptions of the role of B-cells in immunotherapy.

"Through these studies, we find that B-cells are not just innocent bystanders, but are themselves contributing in a meaningful way to the anti-tumour immune response," she said in a statement from the centre.

The discovery is a surprise, as an abundance of B-cells in cancer patients has sometimes been seen as a marker for poor prognosis.

But the studies found patients with high levels of B-cells inside TLS in their tumours were more likely to respond well to immunotherapy.

Dr Louisa James, a lecturer in immunology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: "This series of studies is exciting because (it represents) real progress in the treatment of different types of cancer."

Dr James, who was not involved in the studies, added: "In the short term, these results provide a new tool to help predict which patients are likely to benefit from treatment with immunotherapy and may also pave the way for improved treatments in the future."

There are still many unanswered questions, including why TLS form in some tumours and not others.

While it now seems clear that B-cells inside the structures play a key role in the success of immunotherapy, scientists are not sure precisely how.

It may be that the B-cells are on the front lines, producing antibodies that attack cancer cells efficiently - or they may be bolstering T-cells, or perhaps even doing both.

And not all TLS are created equal: The researchers found three categories, but only one type was "mature" enough to churn out cancer-fighting immune cells.

The research opens up promising new avenues, the authors said.

Initially, the findings could help doctors screen patients to see which of them are most likely to respond well to immunotherapy.

It could eventually mean more patients are successfully treated with the technique, said Professor Goran Jonsson, a professor of oncology and pathology at Lund University in Sweden, who worked on a third study.

"If we come up with a treatment that could enhance TLS formation, we could combine this with current immunotherapy regimens," he said. "Most likely, this would lead to more patients responding to immunotherapy."

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Scientists find immune cells that fight tumours from within - The Straits Times

Immunology

The babies ‘at risk of catching deadly illnesses’ in West Sussex – Spirit FM

The British Society for Immunology has urged the new government to deliver on its promise to develop the UKs first vaccine strategy to protect communities against nasty diseases.

Young children should get the so-called six-in-one jab, which protects against six serious infections including polio, whooping cough and diphtheria, in the first few months of their lives.

Public Health England data shows that 231 children in West Sussex who had their first birthday in the six months to September missed out on the vaccination.

But 94.8% of one year olds did have it, meaning the area was only just short of the 95% rate recommended by the World Health Organisation to prevent outbreaks.

The uptake rate for the South East over the period was 93.2%, while the figure across England stood at 92.1%.

Across England, the figure stood at 92.1%.

The British Society for Immunology said the uptake rate across England for the six-in-one vaccine among one year olds has averaged around 92% over the past year.

"Low levels of vaccination coverage matter as it means these diseases have the potential to spread within our communities, infecting unvaccinated people, with young babies and people with compromised immune systems particularly at risk.

"We urge the new government to deliver on its promise to develop the UKs first vaccine strategy and to fully fund immunisation services to ensure our communities are protected against these preventable diseases."

Dr Doug Brown, chief executive, The British Society for Immunology

But he also urged parents to make sure their children get the jabs.

"If you are worried your child hasnt received all the doses of the six-in-one vaccine, do make an appointment at your GP surgery.

"Its much better to get your child vaccinated than risk them catching one of these nasty diseases."

Babies should have three rounds of the six-in-one vaccination at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age.

It helps them develop a strong immunity to diphtheria, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza type b, polio, tetanus and whopping cough all described by the NHS as serious childhood diseases.

"Every child must be vaccinated against dangerous and potentially fatal diseases.

"Vaccine uptake is very high, at around 90%, for most childhood vaccines, but we are determined to drive rates up even further.

"Our new vaccination strategy, published in the new year, will consider a range of approaches to improve uptake."

Health minister, Nicola Blackwood

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The babies 'at risk of catching deadly illnesses' in West Sussex - Spirit FM