Study Shows Some Antibodies Attack Cytokines
Two studies published on February 1 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine reveal that patients with a rare autoimmune disease produce antibodies that attack microbe-fighting immune proteins called cytokines. These findings may help in explaining the reasons of some patients catching yeast infections recurrently. Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome, or APS-I, afflicts one in 100,000 people and is characterized by disrupted thyroid and adrenal gland function and recurrent skin infections with one type of yeast.







Researchers from Canada and Australia have found that a new antibody that specifically targets cancer stem cells might be helpful in treating an aggressive type of leukemia. The therapeutic molecule created by these researchers attacks a protein, CD123, on the surface of cancer stem cells, which sustain acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This type of leukemia is difficult to treat because it does not respond well to standard chemotherapy.