Lung transplantation remains the only available treatment for many patients, who suffer from end- stage pulmonary disease. Outcomes after lung transplantation, however, continue to be far worse compared to those after transplantation of other organs. Current immunosuppression for lung transplant patients are based on protocols that have been developed for patients receiving other organs. However, such approaches do not take unique immunological features of lungs into consideration that differ substantially from other commonly transplanted organs. Utilizing new clinically relevant mouse models of lung transplantation we have uncovered that induction and maintenance of tolerance to pulmonary grafts is regulated locally through interactions of immune cells within the graft. Tolerant lung grafts develop tertiary lymphoid organs that are enriched in immunoregulatory cell populations that maintain a quiescent state. This proposal explores mechanisms how tolerance is regulated after pulmonary transplantation. We examine pathways that result in graft failure when the tolerant state is disrupted. Insights gained from this application will allow for the development of new therapeutic strategies for lung transplant patients.
Mouse models of organ transplantation offer a reliable, reproducible and clinically relevant method to study immune factors affecting graft survival. Immune responses differ between various transplantable organs. We plan to study immune responses specific to transplanted lungs.
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