Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » A New Way to Prevent Organ Transplant Rejection
Disease Discoveries

A New Way to Prevent Organ Transplant Rejection

By Nora DunneSep 29, 2014
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
M. Javeed Ansari, MBBS, assistant professor in Medicine-Nephrology and Surgery-Organ Transplantation, and his lab found that inducing T-cell exhaustion promotes transplant tolerance.

In a healthy person, the immune system destroys harmful foreign substances that enter the body, preventing infections, tumors and other diseases from developing. But this process often works against organ transplant patients.

A recent study by Northwestern Medicine scientists reveals a new way to limit the immune response to prevent chronic organ transplant rejection and encourage long-term transplant survival in animal models.

“We were able to modify the immune response so that it tolerates the organ and rejection is not an issue,” said M. Javeed Ansari, MBBS, assistant professor in Medicine-Nephrology and Surgery-Organ Transplantation, and senior author of the paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Rejection is rare in the first year following an organ transplant, thanks to immunosuppressive medication. For instance, more than 95 percent of kidney transplants function during that period. But only 50 to 60 percent of them continue to function in five years, explained Dr. Ansari.

This chronic rejection occurs over time as the immune system works to damage the foreign organ, despite physicians’ attempts to match donors and recipients.

“There is a diversity of opinion about what leads to chronic rejection. But we know the factors that lead to it relate to the responses that the immune system generates against the transplanted organ,” said Dr. Ansari, who is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

In the study, the scientists focused on T-cells, the white blood cells that mediate immune responses. They used genetically modified mice with impaired T-cells so the T-cells did not go to their target organ. This way, the T-cells could not reach the foreign tissue and destroy it, causing a state of dysfunction called T-cell exhaustion.

“We’ve shown that if you prevent the T-cells from going to the target organ, you can induce specific T-cell exhaustion and protect the transplant from being rejected,” said Dr. Ansari.

The scientists used a mouse model of chronic heart transplant rejection; however, their finding can be applied to other organs, such as the pancreas, liver, lungs, and kidneys.

One goal for future research is to develop novel reagents, or chemical compounds, that will stop the T-cells from trafficking to the target organ. Ultimately, Dr. Ansari would like to selectively target specific T-cells – the ones that react to the organ – while leaving other T-cells intact – the ones that fight infections and other abnormal tissue such as cancer.

In healthy people, T-cell exhaustion is not something physicians want to promote. In fact, it’s a major problem for those struggling to fight off disease. Interestingly, this study, which found a way to elicit T-cell exhaustion, can be applied on the flip-side.

“This work could be translated in the opposite way to impact areas of infectious diseases and cancer immunology,” said Dr. Ansari. “Instead of preventing the cells from reaching a transplanted organ, you can facilitate them toward sites of infection or targets like tumors and clear them more quickly.”

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant K08 AI080836, an NIH T32 grant and an American Society of Transplantation Basic Science Fellowship Award.

Patient Care Research Surgery
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Mar 29, 2023

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

The Future of IgE-Mediated Allergy Research and Treatments

Mar 29, 2023

Investigating Protein’s Role in Hearing Loss

Mar 27, 2023

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

The Future of IgE-Mediated Allergy Research and Treatments

Mar 29, 2023

Weintraub Appointed to Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law

Mar 28, 2023

Investigating Protein’s Role in Hearing Loss

Mar 27, 2023

Sex-Specific Mechanisms for Major Depressive Disorder Identified in Response to Dysregulated Stress Hormones

Mar 23, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
20230317_NM651
20230317_NM610
20230317_NM569
20230317_NM537
20230317_NM331
20230317_NM323
20230317_NM316
20230317_NM336
20230317_NM626
20230317_NM662
20230317_NM655
20230317_NM642

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.