Video of the week: Fresh hope for leukaemia cure

See the video at: https://youtu.be/IXjTZNbhJpg 

Monash researchers have uncovered the mechanism used by a common type of blood cancer to hide itself from the immune system.

B cell control in the immune system: review article

B cell control mechanisms

Department of Immunology researchers have published an article reviewing the control of B cells by a group of proteins called TNF superfamily proteins. These proteins trigger necessary signals that activate or regulate the various protective functions of B cells in the immune system, and they are important to understand because B cell pathologies including some cancers or autoimmunity can occur when these functions are disrupted.

Rare but critical immune cells to fight CLL can be restored

Professor Fabienne Mackay

The long-term survival of people suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) could be increased with the development of new therapeutic strategies. Ground-breaking research by Monash University Professor Fabienne Mackay from the Department of Immunology and PhD student Damien Easton-Saulep has been released today in the prestigious journal Leukemia that uncovers never before reported aspects of CLL. Professor Mackay’s research found that key cells called “plasmacytoid dendritic cells”, which are important for fighting infections and stimulating other immune cells in the destruction of tumor and infected cells, are actually eliminated in people with aggressive CLL. See more: 14 April 2014 Monash story 
Reference: www.nature.com/leu/journal/v28/n10/full/leu2014105a.html#aff1