Human immune cells are capable of coordinating their own movement more independently than previously thought. InFLAMES researcher Jonna Alanko has discovered that immune cells do not just passively follow the chemical cues in their environment. Quite the contrary, they can also shape these cues and navigate in complex environments in a self-organised manner.
Two new Finnish studies show that short bouts of light or moderate exercise can increase the number of immune cells in the bloodstream of cancer patients.
An international team of researchers has discovered how the so-called tertiary lymphoid-like structures can help the human immune defence to find cancer cells and destroy them. Researchers from the InFLAMES research flagship of the University of Turku, Finland, participated in the study and the research article was published in the esteemed Cancer Cell journal.
The first few months and years of life are crucial to the development of the human immune system. This is an important phase as the immune system can define which diseases individuals might develop later in life. INITIALISE, a joint research project of ten universities, will study which environmental factors and mechanisms modify the human immune system in early life and whether targeted interventions could have a positive impact. The project obtained nearly seven million in funding from Horizon Europe.
InFLAMES (Innovation Ecosystem based on the Immune System) is a Finnish research flagship that aims at identifying novel drug targets using the most modern technological platforms and finding novel diagnostic tools to identify the patients benefitting from personalised therapies.
The new study from Turku Bioscience provides new insights into how genetic variation associated with immune mediated diseases can influence T-cell function and regulation of immune response. The study was published in Nucleic Acid Research.
A recent international study showed that higher pollen concentrations in the air correlate with increased COVID-19 infection rates. Pollen exposure weakens the response of immune system to some seasonal respiratory viruses. The effect was not connected with pollen allergy.
The research groups of Academy Professor Riitta Lahesmaa and Research Director Laura Elo from Turku Centre for Biotechnology have discovered new proteins that regulate T cells in the human immune system. Some of these proteins can provide possible new targets for drug development in treating immune-mediated diseases.