(Press-News.org) A Keck Medicine of USC-led team of microbiologists has identified previously unknown interactions between critical proteins in the human immune response system, uncovering two independent regulatory mechanisms that keep the body's immune response in check. Their findings appear in the February 2014 edition of Cell Host & Microbe, the top peer-reviewed scientific journal that focuses on the study of cell-pathogen interaction.
"The body's response to infection consists of a complex network of biological processes set off by the intrusion of disease-causing microbes," said Qiming Liang, Ph.D., USC post-doctoral fellow and study co-author. "This is a powerful response that needs precise regulation to ensure that the host body is not harmed after the pathogen is destroyed."
For this reason, the authors suggest that it is just as important to know what stops the body's immune response as what activates it. Scientists do not yet fully understand this regulatory mechanism and continue to study it in hopes of harnessing its power to cure disease.
"We report that the direct interaction between the cGAS DNA sensor and the Beclin-1 autophagy protein shapes innate immune responses by regulating both the production of the cGAMP molecule and the process that destructs the microbial DNA," said Gil Ju Seo, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow and study co-author. "This is significant because the cGAMP molecule signals the production of inflammatory cytokines, which kill viruses and bacteria but can also harm the body if uncontrolled."
INFORMATION:
Led by Jae U. Jung, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the research team collaborated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Korea, and Ludwig-Maximilians University in Germany. Other Keck Medicine of USC authors include Youn Jung Choi, Ph.D. candidate; Jianning Ge, Ph.D.; Mary A. Rodgers, Ph.D.; and Mude Shi, Ph.D., all of whom are part of Jung's lab. Their work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (1F32AI096698, CA82057, CA31363, CA115284, CA180779, DE023926, AI105809, AI073099, HL110609, AI083025), Hastings Foundation, Fletcher Jones Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the GRL Program (K20815000001) from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Keck Medicine of USC scientists uncover 2 micro mechanisms that regulate immune system
2014-02-26
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study: Mailing free tests to patients' homes boosts colon cancer screening rates
2014-02-26
PORTLAND, Ore. February 26, 2014 -- Colon cancer screening rates increased by nearly 40 percent when free stool tests were mailed to patients' homes, according to results of a pilot study published today in the journal BMC Cancer.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), included 869 patients who received their health care from community health centers in the Portland, Ore. metropolitan area. The clinics serve many Latino patients who live below the poverty level. About half of them have no health insurance.
"We are very happy that so many of the ...
Attitude during pregnancy affects weight gain
2014-02-26
Overweight or obese women with the mentality that they are "eating for two" are more likely to experience excessive weight gain while pregnant, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.
Cynthia Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences, studied the attitudes and habits of women who gained appropriate weight and those who exceeded guidelines. Overweight is defined as having a body mass index of 25 to 29; obese is having a BMI greater than 29. In 2009 the Institute of Medicine recommends that women of normal weight gain 25 to ...
Suicide among apparently well-functioning young men
2014-02-26
Suicide among young men is a major public health concern in many countries, despite great efforts to find effective prevention strategies. By interviewing close relatives and friends of apparently well-functioning young men who unexpectedly took their own life, Norwegian researchers found there had been no signs of serious mental disorder. This contradicts previous research which suggests that depression or other mental illness is an important risk factor in suicide.
In Norway, there is still scant scientific evidence of effective prevention strategies, and suicide rates ...
Whales, ships more common through Bering Strait
2014-02-26
AUDIO:
Humpback whale sounds were recorded in Bering Strait in October 2012.
Click here for more information.
The Arctic is home to a growing number of whales and ships, and to populations of sub-Arctic whales that are expanding their territory into newly ice-free Arctic waters.
A study of the narrow passage of the Bering Strait uses underwater microphones to track the whales by their sounds. Three years of recordings reveal more detections of both Arctic and sub-Arctic whales ...
NPL scientists blend synthetic air to measure climate change
2014-02-26
Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have produced a synthetic air reference standard which can be used to accurately measure levels of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. This will greatly help scientists contribute to our understanding of climate change.
A paper published in Analytical Chemistry describes how researchers at NPL have created a synthetic gas standard for the first time, which is comparable to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) scale and can be quickly produced in a laboratory and distributed, meeting growing demand.
The ...
Self-administration of flu vaccine with a patch may be feasible, study suggests
2014-02-26
The annual ritual of visiting a doctor's office or health clinic to receive a flu shot may soon be outdated, thanks to the findings of a new study published in the journal Vaccine.
The research, which involved nearly 100 people recruited in the metropolitan Atlanta area, found that test subjects could successfully apply a prototype vaccine patch to themselves. That suggests the self-administration of vaccines with microneedle patches may one day be feasible, potentially reducing administration costs and relieving an annual burden on health care professionals.
The ...
New blood analysis predicts risk of death
2014-02-26
The general state of a person's metabolism can be diversely illustrated with a new scientific blood analysis. With the aid of the analysis biomarkers predicting short-term mortality have now been discovered.
If a person belongs to a risk group based on these biomarker concentrations, he/she has a multifold risk of dying in the next five years compared to the general population. The study is based on blood samples of over 17,000 Finnish and Estonian people.
Mortality was related to four biomarkers in the blood: levels of two proteins (albumin and alpha-1 acidic glycoprotein), ...
Self-rated physical fitness in midlife an indicator of dementia risk
2014-02-26
How would you rate your own physical fitness? Is it good, satisfactory or maybe even poor? Surprisingly, your answer may reveal your future risk of getting dementia.
A recent collaborative study from Finland, involving the follow-up of 3,559 adults for 30 years, has found that a simple question about self-rated physical fitness in midlife may reveal individuals who are at an increased risk of developing dementia. Those who reported poor self-rated physical fitness in midlife, at the mean age of 50 years, were four times more likely to get dementia during the next three ...
Different eggs in adolescent girls and adult women
2014-02-26
Are the eggs produced by adolescent girls the same as the ones produced by adult women? A recent study published in Human Molecular Genetics by Professor Kui Liu from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden shows compelling evidence that there are two completely distinct types of eggs in the mammalian ovary – "the first wave" and "the adult wave".
Professor Liu's team used two genetically modified mouse models to show that the first wave of eggs, which starts immediately after birth, contributes to the onset of puberty and provides fertilizable eggs into the transition ...
Hormone therapy linked to better survival after lung cancer diagnosis in women
2014-02-26
DENVER – Survival among people with lung cancer has been better for women than men, and the findings of a recent study indicate that female hormones may be a factor in this difference. The combination of estrogen plus progesterone and the use of long-term hormone therapy were associated with the most significant improvements in survival.
The study was designed to explore the influence of several reproductive and hormonal factors on overall survival of women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). After adjusting for stage of disease at diagnosis, treatment type (surgery ...