Potential Key To Immune Suppression In Cancer Revealed By Study

In a study investigating immune response in cancer, researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the University of South Florida have found that interaction between the immune system's antigen-specific CD4 T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) - cells that play a major role in cancer-related immune suppression - dramatically change the nature of MDSC-mediated suppression. By contrast, the same effect was not observed when MDSCs interacted with the immune system's CD8 T cells.

How Genes Are Affected By Weightlessness - A Fly's Perspective

On Earth all biology is subjected to gravity. Some biological systems require gravity for correct orientation (geotropism: plants grow up, roots grow down). In the absence of gravity even human biology is affected: astronauts lose bone density at 1-2% a month rather than the usual 1-2% a year on Earth. But the effects of gravity on cellular processes are less well understood. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Genomics has used diamagnetic levitation to counteract the effects of gravity on the fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster ) and found that the expression of several genes was affected.

10 Neglected Tropical Diseases - Target For End Of Decade

68-4062-1 (ATED) The aim is to eliminate or at least control 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020 - it is a public and private partnership, including 13 drug companies, the UK, US and United Arab Emirate Governments, the World Bank, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and some other worldwide organizations. The partners aim to work together to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in countries where they are endemic. They have pledged to liaise closely with affected countries. According to WHO (World Health Organization), 1.