The immune system comprises organs, tissues, cells and molecules, which protect the body against pathogens.
Detailed description
The biological defense system can be separated into an innate and an adaptive part. The innate immune system developed early in the phylogeny of living things. The adaptive immune system adjusts to new or modified pathogens. Both parts collaborate closely. Moreover, the immune system can destroy abnormal or defective cells of the own body.
An international team of researchers have isolated and analyzed genetically tuberculosis bacteria from several thousand patients from over a hundred countries. This analysis demonstrates that the
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) prevents infected cells from being attacked by the immune system. The virus drives production of small molecules, so-called microRNAs, that suppress alarm signals sent out by
Some HIV-infected – and untreated children – who do not develop AIDS, control the virus in a different way from the few infected adults who remain disease-free. Scientists at LMU´s Max von Pettenkofer
In chronic hepatitis B patients, a discontinuation of treatment can lead to cure: as scientists from the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have discovered. DZIF researcher Prof Markus Cornberg and his
There are four globally endemic human coronaviruses which, together with the better known rhinoviruses, are responsible for causing common colds. Usually, infections with these viruses are harmless to
In a clinical trial at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), leukaemia patients are being administered specially purified immune cells, so-called memory T cells, for the first time after a
A potential lifesaver lies unrecognized in the human body: Scientists at the University of Tübingen and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have discovered that Staphylococcus lugdunensis
A team of researchers from the Heinrich Pette Institute and the USA have succeeded in identifying a protein called HLA-F which functions as the ligand of an activating natural killer cell receptor
In June, the World Health Organisation (WHO) decided that the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro can take place despite the Zika virus. The risk of a further international spread is low. The virus is
The first days after HIV infection are very important because sexual partners are exposed to extremely high risks of infection due to the subsequent high viral load in the infected person
