Scientists and medical professionals have been studying what makes us sick and the myriad mechanisms the body uses to respond to illness for hundreds of years. Some of these mechanisms are quite simple and some are elegantly complex. In this first installment of the Immunology blog series we will review the different strategies the immune system employs to keep diseases at bay.

For decades, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been a powerful technique for the investigation and visualization of cellular components in their native histological context. IHC has served as an important tool in medicine – enabling the diagnosis of complex pathological conditions – and in basic research to advance the understanding of key biological processes. 

Although the rise of cancer immunotherapy may seem meteoric to many, the history goes back over 100 years to William B. Coley, often referred to as the father of immunotherapy. 

In recent years, immune checkpoint proteins in the tumor microenvironment have been under intense study. If you work in the immuno-oncology field, chances are you are either performing multiplex IHC (mIHC) or would like to. Ultimately, a multiplexed image like the one featured here provides a multi-layered depiction of a tumor, such that each antibody corresponds to a different fluorescent signal. If you want to detect more targets in your IHC, but aren’t sure how to design a panel of antibodies and fluorophores for mIHC, we’ll walk you through the process in this post.

Research trends in macrophage plasticity

It’s an exciting time for immuno-oncology research, as potential predictive biomarkers from an expanding collection of cell types are being pursued. Explore the plasticity of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and challenges in distinguishing M1- versus M2- functional states in this 5-minute video featuring CST Developmental Scientist Sarah Klein, PhD. 

Can't see the embedded video? Click here to watch.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of hematopoietic malignancy characterized, in part, by bone pain, anemia, kidney failure, and recurring infections. The underlying mechanism that drives the disease is abnormal proliferation and accumulation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow that secrete large amounts of abnormal antibodies.