Publication: Nature Biotechnology

Johannes Bargehr, Lay Ping Ong, Maria Colzani, Hongorzul Davaapil, Peter Hofsteen, Shiv Bhandari, Laure Gambardella, Nicolas Le Novère, Dharini Iyer, Fotios Sampaziotis, Florian Weinberger, Alessandro Bertero, Andrea Leonard, William G. Bernard, Amy Martinson, Nichola Figg, Michael Regnier, Martin R. Bennett, Charles E. Murry & Sanjay Sinha

Summary:

Transplanting an area of damaged tissue with a combination of both heart and muscle cells and supportive cells taken from the outer layer of the heart wall, may be able to help the organs recover from the damage caused by a heart attack. Part funded by the BHF and NIHR and supported by the NIHR Cambridge BRC, researchers have used supportive epicardial cells developed from human stem cells to help transplanted heart cells live longer. Full story here

Publication: Nature

Publication: Kidney International

Publication: Brain

David Howett, Andrea Castegnaro, Katarzyna Krzywicka, Johanna Hagman, Deepti Marchment, Richard Henson, Miguel Rio, John A King, Neil Burgess, Dennis Chan

Summary:

This research showed that a virtual reality test of spatial navigation was more effective at identifying patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than gold standard tests of memory and thinking currently used in clinic and research studies. More here

Publication: PLOS Medicine

David Wastlund, Alexandros A. Moraitis, Alison Dacey, Ulla Sovio, Edward C. F. Wilson, Gordon C. S. Smith

16 April 2019

Summary:

Despite the relative ease with which breech presentation can be identified through ultrasound screening, the assessment of foetal presentation at term is often based on clinical examination only. Due to limitations in this approach, many women present in labour with an undiagnosed breech presentation, with increased risk of foetal morbidity and mortality. This study sought to determine the cost effectiveness of universal ultrasound scanning for breech presentation near term (36 weeks of gestational age [wkGA]) in nulliparous women.

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology

Manu Chhabra, Jawaher Alsughayyir, M. Saeed Qureshi, Mekhola Mallik, Jason M. Ali, Ivonne Gamper, Ellen L. Moseley, Sarah Peacock, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Martin J. Goddard, Michelle A. Linterman, Reza Motallebzadeh and Gavin J. Pettigrew

23 January 2019

Summary:

Different profiles of alloantibody responses are observed in the clinic, with those that persist, often despite targeted treatment, associated with poorer long-term transplant outcomes. Although such responses would suggest an underlying germinal center (GC) response, the relationship to cellular events within the allospecific B cell population is unclear. Here we examine the contribution of germinal center (GC) humoral alloimmunity to chronic antibody mediated rejection (AMR)…

This work is composed of two parts, of which this is Part II. Please read also Part I: Alsughayyir et al., 2019.

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology

Jawaher Alsughayyir, Manu Chhabra, M. Saeed Qureshi, Mekhola Mallik, Jason M. Ali, Ivonne Gamper, Ellen L. Moseley, Sarah Peacock, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Martin J. Goddard, Michelle A. Linterman, Reza Motallebzadeh, Gavin J. Pettigrew

22 January 2019

Summary:

Humoral alloimmunity is now recognized as a major determinant of transplant outcome. MHC glycoprotein is considered a typical T-dependent antigen, but the nature of the T cell alloresponse that underpins alloantibody generation remains poorly understood. This paper examines how the relative frequencies of alloantigen-specific B cells and helper CD4 T cells influence the humoral alloimmune response and how this relates to antibody-mediated rejection (AMR).

Publication: BMJ Open

John OO Ayorinde, Dominic M Summers, Laura Pankhurst, Emma Laing, Alison J Deary, Karla Hemming, Edward CF Wilson, Victoria Bardsley, Desley A Neil, Gavin J Pettigrew

17 January 2019

Summary:

Most potential kidney transplant donors in the UK are aged over 60 years, yet increasing donor age is associated with poorer graft survival and function. Urgent preimplantation kidney biopsy can identify chronic injury, and may aid selection of better ‘quality’ kidneys from this group. However, the impact of biopsy on transplant numbers remains unproven. The PreImplantation Trial of Histopathology In renal Allografts (PITHIA) study will assess whether the introduction of a national, 24 hours, digital histopathology service increases the number, and improves outcomes, of kidneys transplanted in the UK from older deceased donors.

Publication: Journal of Hepatology

Rhiannon Taylor, Elisa Allen, James A. Richards, Mingzheng A. Goh, James Neuberger, David Collett, Gavin J. Pettigrew, Liver Advisory Group to NHS Blood and Transplant

11 January 2019

Summary:

This study looks at patients who require a liver transplant to save their lives; this liver can be donated by a person who has died either after their heart has stopped (donation after cardiac death – DCD) or after the brain has been injured and can no longer support life (donation after brainstem death – DCB). We know that livers donated after brainstem death function better than those after cardiac death, but there are not enough of these livers for everyone, so we wished to help patients decide whether it was better for them to accept an early offer of a DCD liver than waiting longer to receive a “better” liver from a DBD donor. We found that patients were more likely to survive if they accepted the offer of a liver transplant as soon as possible (DCD or DBD), especially if their liver disease was very severe.

Publication: American Journal of Transplantation

Ines G. Harper, Olivera Gjorgjimajkoska, Jacqueline H. Y. Siu, Jasvir Parmar, Arend Mulder, Frans H. J. Claas, Sarah A. Hosgood, Michael L. Nicholson, Reza Motallebzadeh, Gavin J. Pettigrew

12 December 2018

Summary:

Tissue resident lymphocytes are present within many organs, and are presumably transferred at transplantation, but their impact on host immunity is unclear. Here, we examine whether transferred donor natural regulatory CD4 T cells (nT‐regs) inhibit host alloimmunity and prolong allograft survival.

Publication: Journal of Autoimmunity

M. Saeed Qureshi, Jawaher Alsughayyir, Manu Chhabra, Jason M. Ali, Martin J. Goddard, Christopher A. Devine, Thomas M. Conlon, Michelle A. Linterman, Reza Motallebzadeh, Gavin J.Pettigrew

7 December 2018

Summary:

The development of humoral autoimmunity following organ transplantation is increasingly recognised, but of uncertain significance. We examine whether autoimmunity contributes independently to allograft rejection.

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology

Jacqueline H. Y. Siu, Veena Surendrakumar, James A. Richards and Gavin J. Pettigrew

5 November 2018

Summary:

Transplantation is unusual in that T cells can recognize alloantigen by at least two distinct pathways: as intact MHC alloantigen on the surface of donor cells via the direct pathway; and as self-restricted processed alloantigen via the indirect pathway. Direct pathway responses are viewed as strong but short-lived and hence responsible for acute rejection, whereas indirect pathway responses are typically thought to be much longer lasting and mediate the progression of chronic rejection. However, this is based on surprisingly scant experimental evidence, and the recent demonstration that MHC alloantigen can be re-presented intact on recipient dendritic cells—the semi-direct pathway—suggests that the conventional view may be an oversimplification.