Effect of Cognate Human CD4+ T Cell and Endothelial Cell Interactions Upon Chemokine Production

Abstract

Cognate interactions between alloreactive CD4+ T cells and MHC class II-expressing EC results in a specific pattern of chemokine production. These chemokines could play important roles in recruitment of leukocytes into vascularised allografts.

Controversies in defining cardiac antibody-mediated rejection: Need for updated criteria

“…Staining capillaries routinely with HLA-DR, which is upregulated during rejection, would be useful in this regard. 42 HLA-DR staining in severe rejection is often diminished or expressed in patches because of capillary injury ( Figure 2E and F). These diverse immunohistologic features of cardiac AMR based on severity were additionally found to be clinically relevant as they were linked to an incremental risk of cardiovascular mortality in one large series.…”

“…40,41 In the future, it may well be that other analytes, including regulator proteins and chemokines, will also need to be assessed to fully characterize this process in all its forms. 30,41,42 The distribution and intensity of staining of these reactants have not been standardized in a grading scheme. There is a precedent in the renal transplant literature to consider only diffuse staining as significant, 20,21 but a recent report has challenged this assumption in a careful study using outcome as an endpoint.…”

Hypoxia increases membranal and secreted HLA-DR in endothelial cells, rendering them T-cell activators

“…In transplanted organs, donor endothelial cells (ECs) initiate an allogeneic immune response, directly presenting nonself HLA‐DR molecules to memory CD4 + T cells [1]. Although different T‐cell subsets require diverse surface and soluble co‐stimulatory molecules to mediate ECs injury and exert graft rejection [2,3], they all recognize MHC class II molecules, mostly HLA‐DR, which is constitutively expressed in vivo on ECs [4], and up‐regulated during transplant rejection [5].…”

Antibody testing for cardiac antibody-mediated rejection: Which panel correlates best with cardiovascular death?

“…In the future, many analytes, including regulator proteins and chemokines, may be needed to fully characterize this process in all its forms. [32][33][34] This was a retrospective study. We excluded patients in whom the whole panel of antibodies was not used.…”