Immune Regulation News Volume 3.12 | Apr 1 2011

A New Signaling Pathway of the Immune System is Elucidated
A new signaling pathway, which is important for the regulation of the immune response and inflammation, was discovered by an international team of scientists. Scientists report a novel type of modified ubiquitin chains involved in regulation of various processes within the cell. [Press release from EurekAlert! discussing online prepublication in Nature]
 

		Fast Isolation of Functional Human Regulatory T Cells with EasySep®
		REQUEST A SAMPLE

NIH Investigators Find Link between DNA Damage and Immune Response
Researchers offer the first evidence that DNA damage can lead to the regulation of inflammatory responses, the body’s reaction to injury. The proteins involved in the regulation help protect the body from infection. [Press release from the National Institutes of Health discussing online prepublication in PLoS Genetics]

Promising Target for AIDS Vaccine
A section of the AIDS virus’s protein envelope once considered an improbable target for a vaccine now appears to be one of the most promising, new research indicates. [Press release from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discussing online prepublication in PLoS ONE]

Scientists Discover Crucial Trigger for Tumour Protein
Scientists have discovered an essential protein that controls inflammation induced by “tumour necrosis factor”, according to research.  [Press release from Imperial College London discussing online prepublication in Nature]

HIV Integration Requires Use Of A Host DNA-Repair Pathway
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), makes use of the base excision repair pathway when inserting its DNA into the host-cell genome, according to a new study. [Press release from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center discussing online prepublication in PLoS ONE]

New Perspectives on Cancer and the Immune System: Three CRI Scientists Describe Immunity’s Paradoxical Role in the Promotion and Control of Cancer
In a new review article published in a special section of Science focusing on the past forty years since the U.S. declared “War on Cancer,” three Cancer Research Institute scientists describe how advances in the field of tumor immunology have revealed a complex and paradoxical relationship between cancer and the immune system, and discuss how a growing understanding of this relationship is providing a scientific foundation for new therapies capable of unleashing the immune system’s protective powers against cancer. [Press release from the Cancer Research Institute discussing online prepublication in Science]

Scientists Find Cause of Fatal Inflammation of the Heart Muscle
Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center, jointly with colleagues in the United States, have found out that inflammations of the heart muscle are caused by attacks of a specific type of immune cell. [Press release from the German Cancer Research Center discussing online prepublication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation]
 
Fratricide of HBV-Specific CD8 T Cells by NK Cells Mediated through the TRAIL Pathway
A new study presented at the International Liver Congress(TM) shows a novel pathway where activated natural killer (NK) cells expressing death ligands may excessively down-modulate the antiviral immune response in chronic HBV patients. [Press release from EurekAlert! discussing data presented at The International Liver Congress(TM) 2011]

SHARPIN Forms a Linear Ubiquitin Ligase Complex Regulating NF-κB Activity and Apoptosis
Here researchers report that SHARPIN functions as a novel component of the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) and that the absence of SHARPIN causes dysregulation of NF-κB and apoptotic signalling pathways, explaining the severe phenotypes displayed by chronic proliferative dermatitis (cpdm) in SHARPIN-deficient mice. [Nature]

Cross-Dressed Dendritic Cells Drive Memory CD8+ T-Cell Activation after Viral Infection
Cross-dressing is a mechanism of antigen presentation used by dendritic cells that may have a significant role in activating previously primed CD8+ T cells. [Nature]

Linear Ubiquitination Prevents Inflammation and Regulates Immune Signalling
Here researchers identify SHARPIN as a third component of the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex, recruited to the CD40 and TNF receptor signalling complexes together with its other constituents, HOIL-1 and HOIP. [Nature]

Cancer Immunoediting: Integrating Immunity’s Roles in Cancer Suppression and Promotion
Here, researchers discuss a unifying conceptual framework called “cancer immunoediting,” which integrates the immune system’s dual host-protective and tumor-promoting roles. [Science]

Intracellular MHC Class II Molecules Promote TLR-Triggered Innate Immune Responses by Maintaining Activation of the Kinase Btk
Here researchers report that deficiency in MHC class II attenuated the TLR-triggered production of proinflammatory cytokines and type I interferon in macrophages and dendritic cells, which protected mice from endotoxin shock. [Nat Immunol]

STIM1, PKC-δ and RasGRP Set a Threshold for Proapoptotic Erk Signaling during B Cell Development
Here researchers characterize a previously unrecognized Ca2+-driven pathway for activation of the kinase Erk, which was proapoptotic and biochemically distinct from Erk activation induced by diacylglycerol (DAG). [Nat Immunol]

Impaired Thymic Tolerance to α-Myosin Directs Autoimmunity to the Heart in Mice and Humans
Here, researchers show that the α-isoform of myosin heavy chain (α-MyHC, which is encoded by the gene Myh6) is the pathogenic autoantigen for CD4+ T cells in a spontaneous mouse model of myocarditis. [J Clin Invest]

The Toll-Like Receptor Gene Family Is Integrated into Human DNA Damage and p53 Networks
Using primary human immune cells, researchers have examined expression of the entire TLR gene family following exposure to anti-cancer agents that induce the p53 network. [PLoS Genet]

Tumor-Evoked Regulatory B Cells Promote Breast Cancer Metastasis by Converting Resting CD4+ T Cells to T Regulatory Cells
The findings have important clinical implications, since they suggest that tumor-evoked B regulatory cells must be controlled to interrupt the initiation of a key cancer-induced immunosuppressive event that is critical to support cancer metastasis. [Cancer Res]

An Anti-HIV-1 V3 Loop Antibody Fully Protects Cross-Clade and Elicits T-Cell Immunity in Macaques Mucosally Challenged with an R5 Clade C SHIV
Researchers evaluated the potential of HGN194 to protect infant rhesus monkeys against a SHIV encoding a primary CCR5-tropic HIV-1 clade C envelope. [PLoS ONE]

The Base Excision Repair Pathway Is Required for Efficient Lentivirus Integration
An siRNA screen has identified several proteins throughout the base excision repair pathway of oxidative DNA damage as important for efficient HIV infection. [PLoS ONE]

Case Western Reserve Receives $1.6M to Study Tumor Cells and Immune Cell Detection
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $1.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study how tumor cells avoid detection by the body’s immune system, allowing cancer to develop and spread. [Case Western Reserve University Press Release]

Generex Unveils Strategic Development Plan: Antigen Express Spin-Out & Stock Dividend
Mark Fletcher, the Company’s President & Chief Executive Officer, apprised of the Company’s intention to spin-out its wholly-owned subsidiary, Antigen Express, Inc. as a separate DTC-eligible SEC registered company. [Generex Press Release]

Duncan Cancer Center Researchers Awarded $15.9 Million in New Round of CPRIT Grants
Researchers in the NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine have received an additional $15.9 million in the new round of grants announced by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas Thursday. [Baylor College of Medicine Press Release]

FAU Researcher Receives National Institutes of Health Grant to Support Search for Novel Therapeutics against HIV
Massimo Caputi, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical science in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, has received a competitive grant of $433,500 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to further his research on identifying novel therapeutics for HIV. [Florida Atlantic University Press Release]

Spectrum Pharma to Continue Lymphoma Drug Study
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it will continue studying a potential lymphoma treatment and expects to ask for Food and Drug Administration approval throughout the next two years. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

Glenmark Announces the Discovery and Initiation of IND Enabling Studies of a Novel Biologics Entity, GBR 401, Targeting Lymphomas and Leukemia’s of B-Cell Origin
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited India (GPL), announces the discovery and initiation of IND enabling studies of a Novel Biological Entity (NBE) lead candidate, GBR 401, an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody. [Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Press Release]

ImmunoGen, Inc. Announces Presentations at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research
ImmunoGen, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops targeted antibody-based anticancer products using its antibody expertise and Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology, announced that nine presentations – one oral and eight poster presentations – will be given by ImmunoGen scientists at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to be held in Orlando, Florida, April 2-6, 2011. [ImmunoGen, Inc. Press Release]

National Institutes of Health (United States)

Food and Drug Administration (United States)

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

Lab Technologist – Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (STEMCELL Technologies)

Assistant Professor (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering)

Scientist – Human Monoclonal Antibody Discovery (Arsanis Biosciences)

Implementation Coordinator – Maternity Leave Contract (STEMSOFT Software Inc.)

Postdoctoral Research Position – Mucosal Immunology (Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University)

Recruit Top Talent
Reach more than 11,000 potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities with the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Visit here to post your career opportunities.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Immune Regulation News? Click here to submit!

Comments or Suggestions? Email info@connexoncreative.com with your feedback.