Researchers report that the MICA gene is a new histocompatibility gene, in that it helps to better explain and predict the success or failure of a kidney transplant. Their findings have been published in Nature Medicine.
Researchers from Inserm, Université de Rennes 1 and the EHESP School of Public Health at Irset wished to identify the impact on cognitive performance of three pollutants linked to road traffic (fine particles of less than 2.5 microns in diameter, nitrogen dioxide and black carbon). They compared the results of cognitive tests performed by a large sample of people according to their level of exposure to these different pollutants....
The infant mortality rate (IMR) is a key indicator of population health. Researchers analyzed civil registry data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) from 2001 to 2019. They identified a significant increase in the IMR since 2012, thereby setting France apart from other high-income countries.
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm discovered that innate effector cells – group 3 innate lymphoid cells – act not only during the early stages of infection but can also be trained to develop an innate form of immunological memory that can protect the host during reinfection.
Researchers describe how basophils respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection. They show that exposure to the virus activates them, leading to the production of certain cytokines and helping to reduce inflammation and promote the secretion of antibodies.
Annually over 50,000 bone marrow transplantations occur worldwide as a therapy for multiple cancerous and non-cancerous diseases. Yet, how this procedure gives rise to bone marrow-derived cells that engraft the brain, despite being absent in the normal brain, remains unknown. Scientists discovered how the host’s microglia, the brain’s innate immune cells, are replaced by bone marrow-derived macrophages. The key discovery was that transplantation chemotherapy eliminated the microglia’s regenerative capacity,...
A Swiss-French team that includes UNIGE scientists has discovered how to trigger apoptosis in leukaemia cells by disrupting their energy maintenance mechanism.
Monoclonal antibody therapy can be very effective in treating numerous illnesses, such as cancers, chronic inflammatory conditions, and infectious diseases. Researchers from Inserm, Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université and CNRS1 have designed and tested a new immunotherapy approach that uses pre-existing antibodies directed against the Epstein-Barr virus – part of the herpes family of viruses and present in over 95% of the world's population – in order to target...
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) or Steinert’s disease is a rare and debilitating genetic neuromuscular disease affecting multiple organs and with a fatal outcome. No treatment is available at present. Encouraged by previous research into its molecular causes, researchers have developed and tested a promising gene therapy that acts directly at the origin of the disease. Initial findings show correction of molecular and physiological alterations in mouse skeletal muscle1.
"A new impetus for health biology research." This is the ambition of Inserm’s Contract of Objectives, Means and Performance signed on Friday, February 4, 2022.