The role of the immune system in cardiac transplantation

The role of microRNA 142 in cardiac transplantation

Pioneering research has led to advances in preventing organ rejection soon after a heart transplant. Transplant patients receive treatment to modify their immune systems – maximising the chances of their body accepting the donor heart. However, in the long term there is still a risk that their body will reject the new heart. Professor Graham Lord from Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London is leading a team whose goal is to help improve the success of heart transplant operations. When someone receives a donor heart, their own immune system will try to reject it because it sees it as a foreign invader, and so patients are given immunosuppressant medications. This research team wants to understand more about the body’s response after a heart transplant to identify which cells of the immune system are important in controlling acceptance of the donor heart. They will look at cells called T regulatory cells which are known to be important in this regard but the mechanisms that control their behaviour is not known. Tiny fragments of DNA-like material in the circulatory system called microRNAs may be important for T regulatory control and the group will try to confirm this in studies of heart transplantation in mice. They will also study blood samples taken from human transplant patients to look at the types of cells present.