Pathology Microbiology And Immunology

Immune cells that produce an anti-inflammatory factor are enriched in fat tissue around the heart and may be good targets to improve heart attack outcomes. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have identified 13 previously unknown drug compounds that cause false positive screenings for amphetamines, buprenorphine (an opioid), cannabinoids and methadone. Read More

Heather Pua, MD, PhD, one of 60 investigators to receive the 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, will explore a novel type of cell signaling by RNAs in allergic airway inflammation. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have now discovered that, in contrast to prevailing dogma, fibroblasts are not all alike; instead, they have distinctive functions following tissue injury. Read More

Understanding the roles of various immune cells that reside in the gut lining could shed light on inflammatory bowel diseases. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have obtained the first high-resolution image of a molecular “machine” used by the insidious stomach bug Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to inject a cancer-causing protein into the stomach lining. Read More

James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, will be honored today by the science and technology company Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for his contributions to developing new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the world’s deadliest viruses. Read More

Scientists are testing a new way to fight chikungunya virus that involves injecting genetic material into the bodies of infected and at-risk individuals to trigger rapid production of potent, virus-neutralizing antibodies. Read More

VUMC has joined an international effort to streamline and accelerate development of vaccines and other treatments against a growing worldwide surge of deadly and debilitating viral infections. Read More

Louise Rollins-Smith and colleagues have discovered a new way that a deadly fungus evades frogs' immune systems. Read More

Eric Skaar and colleagues have figured out how a common bug responsible for ventilator-associated pneumonia responds when starved of zinc, a metal it needs to survive, which may lead to new therapeutic targets for the dangerous infection. Read More

Frogs don’t like living near noisy highways any better than people do, but research from Vanderbilt suggests that frogs, like hardened city-dwellers, can learn to adapt to the constant din of rumbling trucks, rolling tires and honking horns. Read More

Timothy Cover, john Loh and colleagues have identified how a certain type of mutation influences the risk of premalignant and malignant changes in the stomach. Read More

Heather Pua and colleagues have identified the source of cellular signals that may play a role in triggering an asthma attack. Read More

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis are racing to develop — in a mere 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that can stop the spread of the Zika virus. Read More

David Aronoff and colleagues report an increased risk of the serious gastrointestinal infection C. diff following the use of NSAID pain relievers. Read More

New research by John Karijolich and colleagues have found that RNA, not viruses, activate the sentry enzymes that serve as the first line of defense against viruses. Read More

Research led by James Crowe, Jr., could lead to the first effective treatment for this dangerous mosquito-transmitted infection. Read More

Jeffrey Rathmell and colleagues show that a drug that inhibits glutamine metabolism — currently in clinical trials as an anticancer agent — might also be useful as a treatment for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Read More

An immune cell called CD8+ is supposed to attack disease, but it can also contribute to inflammation, which can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Read More