autoimmune disease

July 1, 2025

New lab for transplant, other specialized testing launches at Vanderbilt Medical Laboratories

The new Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory launched its first phase of testing June 26 and ultimately will fully support clinical testing for the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, the nation’s third busiest transplant center by volume.

By Leigh MacMillan
Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, left, and Kelsey Voss, PhD, led a multidisciplinary team that identified iron metabolism in T cells as a potential target for treating lupus.
January 13, 2023

Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus

A Vanderbilt study found that targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus.

By Leigh MacMillan
(iStock)
October 6, 2022

VUMC to test whether Alzheimer’s drug can ease lupus symptoms

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is partnering with Evergreen Therapeutics Inc. to test whether an Alzheimer’s drug, memantine, can improve cognitive symptoms associated with systemic lupus.

By Bill Snyder
Luc Van Kaer, PhD, left, Luke Postoak and colleagues have identified a protein that is key to the “education” of immature T cells in the thymus.
September 1, 2022

Study identifies key player in T cell “education”

New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output.

By Leigh MacMillan
August 30, 2022

A new mechanism for lupus

Vanderbilt researchers describe a new mechanism for the most common form of lupus and suggest a new treatment approach to this autoimmune disease.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 5, 2022

COVID-associated bleeding risk

While case reports have noted acquired hemophilia after COVID-19 infection or vaccination, a new study finds no increased risk.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 27, 2022

Impaired neutrophils in autoimmunity

Vanderbilt researchers help answer the question of why patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus are more susceptible to bacterial infections: their neutrophils have impaired antibacterial activity.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 16, 2021

‘Pre-conditioning’ restores immune tolerance

A treatment targeting T-cell metabolism could reinvigorate immune tolerance mechanisms to combat autoimmune disease and transplant rejection, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
By Bill Snyder
August 24, 2021

Autoimmunity advance

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a high-throughput screening method to identify and characterize antigen-specific B cells — potential biomarkers for autoimmune disease and targets for new treatments.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 25, 2021

Team studies new use for pulmonary hypertension drug

An FDA-approved medication enhances the function of T regulatory cells (Treg), a class of immune cells that restrains the immune response, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
July 13, 2020

“Nur” target may aid arthritis treatment

Vanderbilt immunologists have discovered that the protein Nur77 is part of a control mechanism that guards against autoimmunity in natural killer T cells.
By Bill Snyder
May 19, 2020

Probing innate immunity

Manuel Ascano team validates an inhibitor of the cGAS-STING signaling pathway, which is important for cellular innate immunity against bacteria, viruses, and our own damaged DNA.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 1, 2018

Team’s findings show glutamine metabolism affects T cell signaling

The cellular nutrient glutamine launches a metabolic signaling pathway that promotes the function of some immune system T cells and suppresses others, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
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