Research efforts across different disciplines are beginning to uncover biological factors that underlie racial differences in health status and disease severity. One common condition with a prevalence of 7.3 percent among U.S. adults is atopic dermatitis. In terms of prevalence and disease severity, African Americans are disproportionately affected when compared to European Americans.
Dendritic cell molecules within the body’s immune system can be modified to improve our ability to combat viral and bacterial infections.
The body’s immune system is designed to protect it from invading organisms and other pathogens. However, the immune system alone may not always be able to combat viral and bacterial infections, and antimicrobial therapies are implemented. A different approach would be to manipulate or affect immune system cells to control infections. Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA have discovered that immune system molecules exist that can make people more vulnerable to bacterial infections, and that modifying expression or function of these immune molecules can enhance resistance to detrimental bacterial infections.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that they are adding staff and rolling out policy changes aimed at advancing the development of safe and effective cell and gene therapies. [1] The announcement came in the form of a press release on January 15th, citing that the new policies are a response to the current surge in cell and gene therapy products that the agency is handling. Based on the number of investigational new drug (IND) applications being submitted, the FDA projects a significant rise in the number of therapies that will be approved over the next few years:
An independent publication cites using HemaCare primary T-cells to investigate a novel cancer therapy based on blocking immune suppression while simultaneously promoting T-cell activity. [1]
Newly approved T-cell therapies have been eliciting enthusiastic discussion across the medical field for their unparalleled success rate in treating aggressive blood cancers. This success has unfortunately not extended to the treatment of brain tumors, where upregulation of the “immune checkpoint” molecule PDL-1 interferes with normal immune response. Now a research group based at the University of Alabama’s Medical School may have found a way to outsmart brain cancer cells that evade the body’s immune system.
“Kiss-and-run” approach helps researchers observe interaction between dendritic cells and T cells.
The normal biological processes needed for living beings to develop, grow, and function involve interactions between a diversity of cell types. Targeting these cellular interactions can enhance current cell-based immunotherapy and regenerative medicine, as well as provide the basis for new ones. Studying the mechanisms of these interactions is necessary in order to understand the means by which they affect cell signaling, immunity, growth and development, and more.