Celiac disease; Immunology Day; Canada travel grants for journos

Media bulletins

The molecular heart of celiac disease revealed on World Immunology Day

Researchers have discovered how our immune cells bind to wheat proteins – and trigger celiac disease.

In a paper overnight in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology  a team of Australian, US and Dutch researchers have published the molecular details of the interaction between the immune system and the gluten which causes so much trouble for celiac patients.

It’s early days, but their work opens the way to potential treatments and diagnostics.

And on the occasion of World Immunology Day – which is today – the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute here in Melbourne is offering to jab you with a flu vaccine, while researchers explain how it works over a biscuit and a cuppa.

Film-maker Sonya Pemberton will also be there to share her thoughts from meeting children and parents for her doco Jabbed (which was cruelly robbed of a Logie on the weekend!)

Read on for more events in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

Kind regards,

Niall

In this bulletin:

The molecular heart of celiac disease revealed

Researchers discover how our immune cells bind to wheat proteins triggering the condition

Australian, US and Dutch researchers have determined the molecular details of the interaction between the immune system and gluten that triggers celiac disease. Their work opens the way to potential treatments and diagnostics.

Monash, Melbourne and Leiden university researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from a Boston-based company, have described the molecular basis of how most of the immune cells (T cells) that induce celiac disease lock onto gliadin, a component of gluten, thereby triggering inflammation of the lining of the small intestine. This is what gives many celiac sufferers symptoms similar to food poisoning after eating a slice of toast.

“We studied how different T cells bind to gliadin, a component of gluten. And when we looked closely we found the docking mechanism was similar. This provides us with a way to develop drugs that might reduce or turn off the immune response,” says Dr Hugh Reid of Monash University. Dr Reid and fellow Australian-based researchers collaborated in the study with Prof Frits Koning from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and with US company, ImmusanT.

Celiac disease is an immune system intolerance of gluten, a protein which occurs naturally in grains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats, and therefore is typically found in bread, pastries and cakes. The problem is that certain immune system T cells regard gluten as a foreign and potentially toxic substance, and initiate action against it. This inflammatory process is triggered when these T cells bind to gliadin.

Today’s paper, published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, explains what’s happening in the overwhelming majority of celiac disease sufferers, the ninety-five percent who carry a gene for the particular protein, HLA-DQ2. In 2012, the research team found a similar trigger for the other five per cent who have HLA–DQ8, another celiac disease susceptibility gene.

More at http://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/arc-imaging

Paper available post-embargo at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2817

Have you had your flu jab? Meet an immunologist on International Day of Immunology

Celebrating our immune systems – events in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide

Foreign organisms attack our bodies every day, and your immune system protects you from bacteria, viruses, parasites and other disease-causing pathogens.

We also need protecting from our own body – from autoimmune conditions like diabetes and arthritis to the mutated cells which form cancers.

Today is International Day of Immunology. It’s a chance to celebrate Australia’s work as a leader in immunology and hear about the new challenges here and overseas.

Researchers in Melbourne alone are tackling a number of medical challenges, including fighting diseases such as malaria, and studying the power of the immune system to fight cancer.

Meet immunologists and find out more about what they’re working on at events around the country:

Today at WEHI get your flu shot, meet immunologists who can tell you how it works and hear about film-maker Sonya Pemberton’s experiences meeting parents and children for her doco Jabbed: Love, Fear and Vaccines

More details at: http://www.dayofimmunology.org.au/Home/

In Sydney at UNSW: Why do you need a flu shot every year? Immunologist Professor Peter McIntyre will explain all you need to know about vaccinations and immunisation – what are the risks, identifying the myths and where immunology’s headed in the future.

In Adelaide this weekend at SAHMRI: Find out about your amazing immune system’s role in keeping us and the community healthy. At this public event, chat with immunologists who will be there to answer any questions you might have on a range of topics from allergies to reproduction.

Global health and food security: win a trip to Canada for EcoHealth 2014

Cover the 5th Biennial Conference of the International Association for Ecology and Health in Montréal, Canada

A great opportunity for someone interested in health, environment or international development: a free trip to Canada to cover EcoHealth 2014.

EcoHealth is a conference about the interplay between human health, animal health and the environment. It’s a central theme in research for development, linking food security, climate change and global health.

Freelancers and working journalists are invited to apply for these eight travel scholarships – covering flights, visas and accommodation in Montreal.

Read more about the scholarships at:http://www.wfsj.org/news/news.php?id=342

Read more about the EcoHealth conference at http://www.ecohealth2014.uqam.ca/

The scholarships are being run by the World Federation of Science Journalists. They support and advocate for science journalists across the world, including a range of awards like this one, and their own biennial conference. Their next conference for science writers is in Seoul in 2015 – and you might remember it came to Melbourne in 2007, hosted by the Australian Science Communicators.

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If you’re looking for ideas or people for features we know hundreds of science prize winners past, present, and future and are always happy to chew the fat about the developing themes in Australian science.

Feel free to pass these stories along to colleagues. And between bulletins, you can follow me on Twitter (@scienceinpublic) for more science news and story tips.