51茶馆

April 30, 2020

Research brings new knowledge of Graft-versus-host disease mechanisms

Improved understanding may help prevent rejection of blood stem cell transplants in cancer patients.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a potentially life-threatening complication of blood stem cell transplants, a therapy for blood cancers. Blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, are cancers of the immune system and are common in both children and adults.

Like most cancers, blood cancers are usually treated using chemotherapy or radiotherapy, but when these therapies aren鈥檛 successful, blood stem cell transplants are attempted.

This transplant therapy seeks to replace the patient鈥檚 diseased bone marrow, with healthy cells from a matching donor to generate new, cancer-free bone marrow and a working immune system.

In a published recently in Immunology and Cell Biology, scientists Dr , Dr  and Professor , from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute and the 51茶馆 School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, examine what causes the transferred stem cells to reject the host.

When blood from healthy donors is transplanted into a patient, in some cases the transplanted immune cells recognise the host cells as foreign causing them to attack healthy tissues, which leads to GVHD.

Professor Sluyter, Dr Watson and Dr Geraghty have taken a closer look at the mechanism of GVHD to determine why the damaged host cells release a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

鈥淪o in GVHD, instead of the body rejecting the transplant, the transplant rejects the body. As part of the disease, the damaged 鈥渉ost鈥� cells release an immune molecule, called (ATP), which can activate the 鈥済raft鈥� immune cells to promote inflammation and damage the recipient鈥檚 tissues such as the liver, gut and skin,鈥� Dr Geraghty said.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an organic compound that is often called the 鈥渆nergy currency of the cell鈥�. Every cell uses ATP for energy.

鈥淭his recent publication, along with previous studies, suggests that the ATP activates a molecule on immune cells called P2X7 which promotes GVHD. Therapies that can block P2X7 may limit or prevent GVHD in people with blood cancer after stem cell transplants,鈥� Dr Geraghty added.

The International Day of Immunology is celebrated each year on 29 April, and is dedicated to increasing global awareness of the importance of immunology in the fight against infection, autoimmunity and cancer.

A video about the research can be viewed .

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

'' by Nicholas Geraghty, Debbie Watson and Ronald Sluyter is published in Immunology and Cell Biology.

This project was funded by the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, 51茶馆 and Molecular Horizons, 51茶馆. Debbie Watson was supported by the AMP Tomorrow Fund.