Cutting off blood flow ages the bone marrow, weakening the immune system’s ability to fight cancer, a new study finds.

The most common cancer-causing strain of human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV16, undermines the body’s defenses by reprogramming immune cells surrounding the tumor, according to new USC research. In mice, blocking this process boosted the ability of experimental treatments for HPV to eliminate cancer cells. HPV16 causes more than half of cervical cancer cases and roughly 90% of HPV-linked throat cancers. It can be neutralized with the preventive vaccine Gardasil-9, but only if vaccination occurs prior to HPV exposure. Researchers are now working to develop “therapeutic vaccines,” which can be taken after HPV exposure to trigger an immune response by T-cells against infected cells, but in clinical trials, these vaccines have limited effectiveness—and the new study helps explain why. The study focuses on the signaling protein Interleukin-23 or IL-23 in the immune system which has inflammatory properties. While IL-23 was previously implicated in cervical and throat cancers, its exact role was unclear. In a series of tests in mice and cell cultures, USC researchers found that two HPV proteins, E6 and E7, prompt nearby cells to release IL-23, which in turns prevents the body’s T-cells from attacking the tumor. In mice with HPV16 tumors, IL-23 neutralizing antibodies blocked IL-23 and increased the number of T-cells around the tumor that could recognize and kill cancer. When combined with the HPV therapeutic vaccine, this approach triggered a stronger immune response and led to longer survival than either treatment on its own.

 

A new study from the University of Washington shows that households enrolled in the City of Seattle's Fresh Bucks program experience a 31% higher rate of food security and consume at least three daily servings of fruits and vegetables 37% more often than those assigned to a program waitlist. Fresh Bucks, a $40 a month benefit, works with local partners to help residents access fresh food.

In a study published in Nature, a global team of researchers developed a new technology called pathology-oriented multiplexing, or PathoPlex, to map more than 140 different proteins across 40 tissue samples.

UAB researchers say this study shows passive antibody therapy can dramatically reduce Zika virus infection in critical tissues that could potentially lead to decreased transmission of virus through sex and from pregnant mothers to their babies.