News

Antibodies in mom’s breast milk are protecting babies

Thursday, October 3, 2024

“We would expect to find differences in antibody levels in different countries, due to different diseases circulating among areas of the world, but this is one of the first times that there’s been a head-to-head comparison for dozens of pathogens across several continents,” says lead author Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo, a professor of pediatrics, of medicine, and of microbiology and immunology.

Read the full article in US News and World Report

Research: How the Immune System Fails as Cancer Arises

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Cancer has been described as “a wound that does not heal,” implying that the immune system is unable to wipe out invading tumor cells. A new discovery confirms that a key molecule can reprogram immune cells that normally protect against infection and cancer, turning them into bad guys that promote cancer growth.

Studying the behavior of these “pro-tumor” immune cells is important because they could be targets for therapies that block their harmful activity, said Minsoo Kim, PhD, corresponding author of the study and a research leader at the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the discovery.

Kim led a team of scientists investigating the dynamic interactions that occur between cells in the tumor environment, and the underlying factors that cause the harmful transformation of immune cells from good to bad.

They found that PAF (platelet-activating factor) is the key molecule that controls the destiny of the immune cells. PAF not only recruits cancer-promoting cells, but it also suppresses the immune system’s ability to fight back. In addition, they found that multiple cancers rely on the same PAF signals.

What Is H5N1 Bird Flu, How it Spreads to Humans, and Safety Concerns

Thursday, June 20, 2024

The H5N1 virus, also known as avian or bird flu, is once again in the news and on the radar of scientists and public health officials as a growing number of infections have been found in dairy cattle and farm workers.

David Topham, PhD, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology and director of the University of Rochester Translational Immunology and Infectious Disease Institute, has been studying the H5N1 and other influenza viruses for 27 years.