Abstract
Although allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) has become a valuable strategy for some intractable diseases, a number of problems remain to be resolved. We have developed a new HSCT method, HSCT + thymus transplantation (TT) from the same donor, which induces elevated T cell function with mild graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in comparison to conventional HSCT alone and HSCT + donor lymphocyte infusion (HSCT + DLI). This new method is effective in the treatment of several intractable diseases and conditions, such as autoimmune diseases in aging, advanced malignant tumors, exposure to supralethal irradiation, multiple organ transplantation from different donors, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, for which conventional methods are ineffective. Our findings suggest that allo-HSCT + TT is preferable to conventional allo-HSCT alone or allo-HSCT + DLI. This method may become a valuable next-generation HSCT technique.
Highlights
In recent years, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has become a valuable strategy for the treatment of hematological disorders, congenital immunodeficiencies, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases, and malignant tumors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
In the case of conventional allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), allo-HSC is transferred into the host, and allo-T cells develop in the host thymus
Nontolerant allo-T cells are externally supplied in the case of HSCT + DLI, resulting in strong graftversus-host disease (GVHD), and the T cell number and function decrease (Figure 1, right)
Summary
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) has become a valuable strategy for the treatment of hematological disorders (leukemia, lymphoma, and aplastic anemia), congenital immunodeficiencies, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases, and malignant tumors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. We recently developed a method of allo-HSCT in conjunction with TT from the same donor [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27] This method results in elevated T cell function with mild GVHD compared to HSCT alone or HSCT + donor lymphocyte infusion (HSCT + DLI) [18]. The mechanism underlying these effects involves and CD4+ FoxP3− effector CD4+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells. Our findings indicated that allo-HSCT + TT is preferable to the conventional allo-HSCT alone or allo-HSCT + DLI for several intractable diseases and conditions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call