Immunology

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about gifts—it’s about showing your special someone you truly care.

Prolonged illnesses like cancer and chronic infections often leave the immune system in a state of exhaustion, where its frontline defenders—T cells—lose their ability to function effectively. Research, led by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center (Peter Mac), have identified a rare type of immune cells, called stem-like T cells, that holds the key to maintaining powerful, long-term immune responses.

A team of international researchers led by scientists at City of Hope have demonstrated a way to boost thymic function after damage in preclinical studies. The team’s study results, published today in the journal Immunity, outline their discovery of a specific type of regulatory T cell that can home back into the thymus and repair the organ when it’s damaged.

Psoriasis, a painful and uncomfortable inflammatory skin condition that affects millions worldwide, flares up from the activity of disease- and infection-protecting immune cells.

With every bite of food we take, our intestinal immune system must make a big decision. Tasked with defending us from foreign pathogens, these exquisitely sensitive cells somehow distinguish friend from foe—destroying invaders while tolerating food and helpful bacteria. How the gut separates the good from the bad has long puzzled scientists.

Monash University scientists have identified an immune system power play behind serious bee venom allergy, which lands twice as many Australians in hospital emergency departments each year as snake or spider bites.

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the Singapore General Hospital have discovered that T cells—white blood cells that can destroy harmful pathogens—can completely prevent viral infection, to an extent previously thought only possible due to neutralizing antibodies.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a common autoimmune disease that leads to sudden circular hair loss. The clinical course of AA is unpredictable and varies greatly from individual to individual. Numerous studies have shown that AA is often associated with comorbid, i.e. co-existing, chronic inflammatory diseases, which can have an impact on prognosis and clinical management.

A recent Cell Reports paper by the Oxenius group (IMB) demonstrates a function of targeted centrosome inheritance during CD8+ T cell division for the generation of memory precursor cells.