Transplant Immunology in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Role of Xenobiotics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 7847
Special Issue Editors
Interests: allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation; graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect; hematological malignancies; immunotherapy
Interests: cellular therapies; transplantation immunology; transfusion; myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and CML
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a potentially curative therapy for hematological malignancies. The number of patients receiving allo-HCT continues to increase, with more than 50,000 transplantations reported worldwide in 2017. The development of novel strategies, such as reduced intensity conditioning (RIC), post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT-Cy) as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, and cord blood as a stem cell source, have helped to expand the indications for allo-HCT, decreased treatment-related mortality (TRM) and increased long-term survival. However, severe life-threating acute GVHD remains a major obstacle that affects over half of allo-HCT recipients. The pathophysiology of acute GVHD is complex, but it is well established that allo-reactive donor T lymphocytes play an important role in mediating GVHD. To that end, donor allo-reactive T lymphocytes must be activated by antigen-presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells (DCs). APCs can be activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6, as well as by damage- and pathogen-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs and PAMPs, respectively), which are released by damaged host tissues after conditioning. The regulation of these “danger signals” is important for preventing GVHD. In addition, tissue-specific mechanisms such as tissue tolerance are increasingly recognized as important components of GVHD pathogenesis. Recently, the gut microbiome and its metabolites were shown to be important for promoting tissue homeostasis and regeneration. While GVHD is a major obstacle to allo-HCT, relapse remains the number one cause of mortality following allo-HCT for malignant disorders. The graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect helps to prevent relapse, but this effect is tightly linked to GVHD such that GVHD treatment and prophylaxis regimens often come at the cost of increased relapse. Therefore, it is critical to find ways of treating GVHD GVHD that also preserve GVT. In this Special Issue, recent advances in the basic and clinical science of GVT and GVHD are reviewed.
Prof. Dr. Tomomi Toubai
Prof. Dr. Timothy Devos
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
- Graft-versus-host disease
- Graft-versus-tumor effect
- T cells
- Antigen-presenting cells
- Cytokines
- Damage- and pathogen-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs and PAMPs)
- Microbiome
- Metabolites
- Tissue tolerance
