The findings, which appear in the November 29, 2013 issue of the journal Science, focus on a protein known as E2 envelope glycoprotein. "We’re excited by this development," said Ian A. …
The study, published online by the journal AIDS, was authored by Jennifer Smith, PhD, MPH, research associate professor with the Gillings School of Global Public Health and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Anne Rositch, PHD, MSPH, assistant professor with the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "These data from Kenya add to a mounting evidence showing a higher risk of HIV acquisition among individuals with genital HPV infections," said Smith. Men in the study with at least one occurrence of HPV infection faced double the risk of acquiring HIV, and those with three or more HPV infections had more than three times the risk of developing HIV. This pattern was consistent in both circumcised and uncircumcised men…
Reported during the week of Oct. 21, 2013, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding provides a potential new strategy in vaccine development to elicit the broadly neutralizing antibodies considered essential for long-lasting protection from the ever-changing HIV virus. …
"The greatest misperception of parents is that the HPV vaccine isn’t needed," says Mayo Clinic’s Robert Jacobson, M.D., pediatrician in the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center and lead author of the editorial. "Not only is that wrong, it’s a dangerous idea to be spreading around. Recent figures show that at least 12,000 unvaccinated women develop cervical cancer from HPV every year." Other incorrect perceptions: The HPV vaccines are not safe, and they are given to children when they are too young. Dr. …
Confronted with a harmful virus, the immune system works to generate cells capable of producing antibodies perfectly suited to bind and disarm the hostile invader. …
EBV causes infectious mononucleosis and cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which is the most common cancer in China, as well as opportunistic cancers in people with weakened immune systems. A member of the herpes virus family that remains in the body for life, the virus infects epithelial cells in the throat and immune cells called B cells. The researchers discovered that the virus triggers molecular events that turn off key proteins, making infected cells invisible to the natural killer T (NKT) immune cells that seek and destroy EBV-infected cells. "If you can force these invisible proteins to be expressed, then you can render infected cells visible to NKT cells, and defeat the virus. …
Vaccines can be delivered to the lungs via an aerosol spray, but the lungs often clear away the vaccine before it can provoke an immune response. …
Published in the August issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe, the findings describe a novel mechanism that this group of so-called "enveloped viruses" uses to disarm the host’s innate immune response. The mechanism the scientists uncovered is based on these viruses activating a class of molecules, known as TAM receptors, which are located on the outside of certain immune cells…
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, and metastasis is a major cause of health deterioration and death from the disease. Management of metastasis is difficult for several reasons…
It’s in the early stages, but genistein, derived from soybeans and other plants, shows promise in inhibiting the HIV infection, says Yuntao Wu, a professor with the George Mason-based National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Molecular and Microbiology. …