A new study published in Nature Communications found targeting certain donor cells can lower the risk of heart and kidney transplant rejection in mice, and experts posit the findings could lead to breakthroughs in human organ transplant rejection.
T cell activation in the organ recipient is what typically causes organ rejection, and they become fully activated when they make physical contact with a specialized type of cell, the dendritic cell.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, found dendritic cells help drive rejection of transplanted organs.
"Our study indicates that eliminating transplant-infiltrating dendritic cells reduces proliferation and survival of T cells within the graft with the consequent prolongation of transplant survival," said Adrian Morelli, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery and immunology at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplant Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of the study.
"The next step would be to devise methods to specifically target dendritic cells within transplanted organs," said Fadi Lakkis, MD, a professor of immunology and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, director of the Starzl Transplant Institute and study co-author. "Such methods carry promise of preventing or interrupting rejection without compromising the patient's overall immune defenses."