Pleasant memories: remembering immune protection while forgetting about graft-versus-host disease
Paul M. Sondel, … , Ilia N. Buhtoiarov, Kenneth DeSantes
Paul M. Sondel, … , Ilia N. Buhtoiarov, Kenneth DeSantes
Published July 1, 2003
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2003;112(1):25-27. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI19095.
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Commentary

Pleasant memories: remembering immune protection while forgetting about graft-versus-host disease

Abstract

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality following conventional allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). A study in mice (see related article on pages 101–108) demonstrates that the selective administration of donor memory CD4+ T cells results in immune reconstitution without GVHD, a result that, if translatable to humans, has important clinical implications for HSCT.

Authors

Paul M. Sondel, Ilia N. Buhtoiarov, Kenneth DeSantes

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Figure 1

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The donor graft contains both mature immune cells and primitive HSCs. T ...
The donor graft contains both mature immune cells and primitive HSCs. T cells facilitate engraftment, protect against infection, and mediate an antileukemic effect. However, they may also initiate GVHD, a potentially fatal transplant complication. HSCs restore hematopoiesis and native immunity, the latter process requiring education of immune cells in the host thymus.