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A study has unveiled a previously unrecognized role for an essential nutrient in shaping the cellular landscape for one of the body's first lines of defense against infection, immune cells called macrophages. The findings identifying a role for the nutrient choline under normal conditions and in response to an intestinal worm infection in mice could potentially have significant implications for other models of human infection, perhaps even cancer immunity. Dr. Morgan Fullerton explains that by blocking a specific part of metabolism the research team saw an unexpected defect emerge in macrophages—sentinel cells that are one of the immune system's star...

New wonder drug matches and kills all kinds of cancer — human testing starts 2014 By MICHAEL BLAUSTEIN Last Updated: 2:03 PM, July 11, 2013 Posted: 12:55 PM, July 11, 2013 Stanford researchers are on track to begin human trials of a potentially potent new weapon against cancer, and would-be participants are flooding in following the Post’s initial report on the discovery. The progress comes just two months after the groundbreaking study by Dr Irv Weissman, who developed an antibody that breaks down a cancer's defense mechanisms in the body. A protein called CD47 tells the body not to "eat"...

Macrophages play a key role in the immune response, protecting organisms against infection and regulating the development of inflammation in tissue. Macrophages differ depending on where they are located and which tasks they perform. A scientist at TUM has been investigating whether these different types of cells have the same origin – and has come up with some surprising results. His findings reveal that there are two distinct macrophage cell lines that continue into adult life and that these two lineages have different origins. The research was recently published in Science magazine. The organs of vertebrates, including of course humans...

Very soon, perhaps in a few days or weeks, someone in the United States will injure his or her spinal cord and become paralyzed. They may crash their car, slip on ice or fall at a job site. UMDNJ is one of three sites nationally that is testing specially treated immune cells -- called macrophages -- that are injected into the spinal cord. The treatment may not help patients walk, but they may be able to regain sensations or recover some movement. Proponents want to open new avenues of research, and counter thinking that the spinal cord can never be...