renal transplantation Flashcards
What is tissue rejection caused by?
immune responses to alloantigens on the graft which are proteins that vary from individual to individual wtihin a species and are therefore pereived as foreign by the recipient
Why is MHC matching not necessary for blood transfusion?
RBCs and platelets express small amoutns of MHC-I molecules and no MHC-II so are not usually T cell targets
What is a syngeneic graft?
graft between genetically identical animals or people
What happens when a skin graft is grafted between allogeneic individuals ?
graft intially survives but is then regected about 10-13 days after grafting–acute rejection
What is a second-set rejection?
when a second skin graft from the same donor to the same recipient results in accelerated (second-set) rejection- 6-8 days
What shows that T cells mediate rejection?
if transfer T cells from a sensitised donor to a naive recipient this results in second-set rejection- memory-type response; skin grafts into nude mice (no T clels) there is no rejection, which can be restored by adoptive transfer of normal T cells
What do studies suggest about the percentage of T cells in an individual that will respond to stimulation by cells from another, unrelatedm member of hte same species?
1-10%
Why are there so many T cells that recognise nonself MHC?
positive selction- TCRs that interact with one type of MHC are more likely to cross-react with other nonself MHC variants; germline encoded bias of TCR for MHC
Why do HLA-identical siblings still get GvHD?
differences in antigens from non-MHC proteins that also vary between individuals- proteins from the cell presented on MHC, if polymorphic proteins will be different to self— minor histocompatibility (H) antigens
Give an example of minor H antigens?
Y chromosome specific genes will incur female anti-male responses
What type of immune response does the reaction against minor H antigens resemble?
the response to viral infection- against peptides presented in MHC, but since these peptides will be expressed in lots of cells in the graft, results in loss of graft
What is direct allorecognition?
where passenger leukocytes (carried in the organ graft)- APCs traffic to secondary lymphoid tissues and activate host cells that bear the corresponding TCRs against the donor MHC and peptides they are expressing
How do passenger leukocytes travel to secondary lymphoid organs?
in the blood- lymphatic drainage of a sold organ allograft is interrupted by transplantation
what demonstrates that direct allorecognition is important in allorejection?
if the grafted tissue to deplted of APCs by treatment with antibodies, rejection occurs only after a much longer time
What is indirect allorecognition?
process by which allogeneic proteins are taken up by the recipients APCs and presented to T cells by self MHC
What is hyperacute graft reaction?
When there are preexisting alloantibodies against blood group antigens and polymorphic MHC antigens can cause rapid rejection of transplanted organs in a copmlement-dependent reaction that occurs within minutes of transplantation
what happens in hyperacute solid graft reaction?
antibodies react with antigens on the vascular endothelial cells of the graft and initiate the complement and blood clotting casacdes resulting in vessel blockage causing its rapid destruction
How can hyperacute graft reaction be avoided?
cross-matching: determining whether the recipient has antibodies that react with the WBCs of the donor
What is the problem in xenografts?
most people have antibodies that react with a cell-surface carbohydrate antigen of other mammalian species- hyperacute rejection
How has the problem of hyperacute rejection been targeted?
by developing transgenic pigs that lack the carbohydrate and that express human complement regulatory proteins
What is the current problem with transplants?
allow 1 year survival of grafts is now 90%, there has been little improvement in long term graft survival- remains about 8 years: chronic rejection
What is a major component of late failure of vascularised transplanted organs?
chronic allograft vasculopathy- especially heart and kidney allografts
What is chronic allograft vaculopathy characterised by?
concentric arteriosclerosis of graft blood vessels which leads to hypoperfusion of the graft and its eventual fibrosis and atrophy
what is thought to be the major mechanism by which chronic allograft vasculopathy occurs?
recurring, subclinical acute rejection evenst with the development of allospecific antibodies reactive to the vascular endothelium of the graft