Pathology Microbiology And Immunology

Metastatic pancreatic cancer — cancer that has spread from the pancreas to other tissues and is responsible for most patient deaths — changes its metabolism and is “reprogrammed” for optimal malignancy, according to new findings reported Jan. 16 in Nature Genetics. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators recommend that the presence of tumor deposits in the abdomen be included when staging midgut neuroendocrine tumors. Read More

A new method will make it possible to study solid tumors and healthy tissues using mass cytometry. Read More

A novel drug that targets the protein RSK blocked aggressive breast cancers from metastasizing in an animal model. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has established a Sarcoidosis Center of Excellence under the direction of Wonder Drake, M.D., associate professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Read More

Blood-forming stem cells play a role in immune tolerance and acceptance of organ transplants, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

At the intersection of immunology and metabolism is a burgeoning new field: immunometabolism. It’s an area where Vanderbilt has exceptional strengths, said Jeffrey Rathmell, Ph.D., Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Immunobiology. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that in a mouse model “markedly reduced” infection by the Zika virus. Read More

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus — two pathogens that frequently co-infect the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis — appear to cooperate with each other, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. When pseudomonas is starved for metal by the host, it shuts down the production of factors that would normally kill staph, promoting a co-infection. Read More

To prepare for the potential of a smallpox return, Vanderbilt researchers are isolating and studying naturally occurring antibodies from the blood of previously infected or immunized people. Read More

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of life-threatening viral pneumonia in infants worldwide, yet despite repeated efforts, scientists have been unable to develop an effective vaccine against it. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine have uncovered a link between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and the inflammatory response to bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract. Read More

New discoveries will guide efforts to develop vaccines or antiviral agents for norovirus, the most common cause of infectious diarrhea. Read More

Too much dietary zinc increases susceptibility to infection by Clostridium difficile — “C. diff” — the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections. Read More

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been linked to anemia and may be contributing to the incidence and severity of anemia worldwide. Read More

Emerging viral infections like Zika keep popping up around the world in such quick succession that medicine is having a hard time keeping up. It can take 15 years and more than a billion dollars to bring a new drug to market. Read More

Modulation of T cell metabolism thus may represent a new therapeutic avenue for leukemia patients. Read More

Increasing expression of a transcription factor called KLF2 can promote immunological self-tolerance and “tune down” autoimmunity, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported recently. Read More

Hypoxia (lack of enough oxygen) is bad for the body as a whole, but in the neighborhood where infection-fighting antibodies arise, may be important for keeping proper order. Read More

Fecal transplants are increasingly being used to treat certain human illnesses and more scientists have begun to research the transplants' effects in animals. Read More