Scientists develop fungus-fighting vaccineSeptember 06, 2005A group of scientists in Italy have developed a vaccine with the potential to protect against fungal pathogens that commonly infect humans, according to a study by Torosantucci and colleagues in the September 5 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Although these fungi pose little threat to people with healthy immune systems, they can cause fatal infections in those whose immune systems have been weakened by cancer treatments or post-transplant immunosuppressive therapies. No anti-fungal vaccines are currently available. The new vaccine was made of a sugar-like molecule called beta-glucan that is found on the cell wall of the fungus and that the fungus needs to grow and survive. To induce a robust immune response to the vaccine, the group attached the relatively innocuous beta-glucan to a protein called diptheria toxin that is known to stimulate the immune system and has been used in other human vaccines. The vaccine protected rodents from fatal fungal infections by triggering the production of anti-beta-glucan antibodies. These antibodies stuck to the invading fungal cell wall and prevented the fungus from growing. The authors now plan to test the vaccine in humans and hope the results are equally promising. Journal of Experimental Medicine |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Related Fungus Current Events and Fungus News Articles WPI Researchers Take Aim at Hard-to-Treat Fungal Infections A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections. Smithsonian scientists find the frog legs trade may facilitate spread of pathogens Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States. Amphibians as environmental omen disputed Amphibians, for years considered a leading indicator of environmental degradation, are not uniquely susceptible to pollution, according to a meta-analysis to be published in Ecology Letters. DNA barcodes: Creative new uses span health, fraud, smuggling, history, more The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others. Pathogen protection and virulence: Dark side of fungal membrane protein revealed Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress. Rot resistant wheat could save farmers millions CSIRO researchers have identified wheat and barley lines resistant to Crown Rot - a disease that costs Australian wheat and barley farmers $79 million in lost yield every year. Pumpkin skin may scare away germs The skin of that pumpkin you carve into a Jack-o'-Lantern to scare away ghosts and goblins on Halloween contains a substance that could put a scare into microbes that cause millions of cases of yeast infections in adults and infants each year. Catching a killer one spore at a time A workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama has dramatically improved the ability of conservationists and regulatory agencies to monitor the spread of chytridiomycosis-one of the deadliest frog diseases on Earth. Coral bleaching increases chances of coral disease Mass coral bleaching has devastated coral colonies around the world for almost three decades. Now scientists have found that bleaching can make corals more susceptible to disease and, in turn, coral disease can exacerbate the negative effects of bleaching. Canker disease in eucalyptus in the Basque Country The first experiences with exotic species in the Basque Country, and alternative to Pinus radiata, were undertaken in 1957, concretely in Laukiz, Lezama and Alonsotegui (Muro, 1975) where the eucalyptus, amongst other forest species, was introduced. More Fungus Current Events and Fungus News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||