Scientists take important step toward using retinal cell transplants to treat blindness
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Latest discovery is promising step in use of cell therapy to treat retinal diseases
A new study of liver transplant centers confirms that non-Hispanic white patients get placed on liver transplant waitlists at disproportionately higher rates than non-Hispanic Black patients.
UC San Francisco scientists have discovered a new way to control the immune system's 'natural killer' (NK) cells, a finding with implications for novel cell therapies and tissue implants that can evade immune rejection. The findings could also be used to enhance the ability of cancer immunotherapies to detect and destroy lurking tumors.
A research study at the University of Chicago has found that in pregnancy, while the T cell response to a fetus becomes tolerant to allow for successful pregnancy, the part of the immune system that produces antibodies (known as the humoral response) becomes sensitized, creating memory B cells that can later contribute to the rejection of a transplanted organ.
Women awaiting liver transplants in the United States are known to be about one-third more likely than men to become too ill to undergo surgery or die before receiving a liver. Now a study headed by UC San Francisco and Columbia University highlights the role that frailty plays in this gender gap.
Research story ideas from Johns Hopkins Medicine.
A paint-on, transparent bandage containing phosphorescent materials reads the amount of oxygen reaching transplanted tissue -- a critical component of a transplant's success. Existing oximeter technology is complicated to use, restricts patients' movements, and is subject to false alarms. The first human trial of the liquid bandage in women undergoing breast reconstruction after cancer found that it performed as well as a wired oximeter device, the current clinical standard.
Long-term exposure to IFNγ stimulates the production of protein BST2 on blood stem cells, which resulted in their emergence from the quiescent state, persistent proliferation and finally exhaustion.
Controlling inflammation after transplantation of organs, cells, or tissues is critical for graft survival; however, it can be difficult. Continuing injuries due to chronic rejection can be particularly problematic. Now, a team of researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine report that neutralizing the cell signaling molecule, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), can prevent cascades of injurious molecules and signals after cell transplantation in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier.
A virtual telehealth platform is allowing the surgery program at the Medical University of South Carolina to evaluate and wait-list patients for kidney transplantation despite reductions in direct, in-person health care visits brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.