A Novel Method for Immunoprotection of Tissue Transplants

Musculoskeletal extremity injuries, including traumatic amputations, represent the majority of injuries sustained by victims of traffic accidents, work-related traumas and military recruits injuries. Over the last decade, vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA), the transplantation of specialized tissue from a deceased donor, has become a good alternative for the reconstruction of devastating hand and facial injuries, like those in those wounded patients.
Transplantation tolerance, allows for elimination of immunosuppressive drugs, has been the “holy grail” for transplantation medicine since its beginnings. Especially for VCA, since acute rejection of the “foreign” VCA occurs in up to 90 % of patients, despite the use of potent immunosuppression drugs. Increased doses of immunosuppression, with life-threatening complications, or successful immunomodulatory regimens are required to prevent loss of the VCA. IDO is an enzyme that has shown to be able to lower the threshold for attaining immunologic tolerance. In combination with IDO, we will (further) explore the use of creating a so called “mixed chimerism state” for the induction of VCA tolerance. Mixed chimerism involves donation of immune cells from the donor to create a hybrid immune system in the recipient.

Faculty Supervisor:

Aziz Ghahary

Student:

Partner:

Harvard University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: