Minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAs) recognized by donor T cells play a central role as immunologic targets of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and graft versus leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Men who have undergone sex-mismatched allogeneic HSCT are at high risk for GVHD because of immune responses directed against mHAs encoded by genes on the Y ch...

The frequent occurrence of spherical myopia after penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus is partly the result of the excessive dioptric power of the grafted cornea which occurs when the diameter selected for the donor button is greater than the diameter of the host incision. This excessive power could be reduced by eliminating disparity between the diameters of the graft and host. To determin...

CC-chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is expressed on the surface of naive T cells, and plays a critical role in their movement into secondary lymphoid tissue. Here, we show that murine T cells lacking CCR7 (CCR7(-/-)) generate attenuated graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) responses compared with wild-type (WT) cells, with the difference varying inversely with the degree of major histocompatibility comp...

It remains controversial whether alloreactive donor-derived natural killer (NK) cells display graft-versus-leukemia reactions after unmodified allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The present study evaluated the role of inhibitory killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) ligand incompatibility using a well-defined and uniform setting of unmodified allogeneic HSCT in 374 p...

We have used limiting dilution culture methods to determine the frequency of mitogen-responsive T cells in peripheral blood of patients after bone marrow autotransplantation, and have compared their responsiveness to that of allotransplant recipients and normal controls. Autotransplant patients were found to have low responder cell frequencies in tests for lymphokine-secreting helper function, ...

A 17-year-old boywith bilateral bronchiectasis was admitted for bilateral lung transplantation (BLTx). Chest radiography (CXR) demonstrated localized right pneumothorax, diffuse bronchiectasis with fibrosis, and a large bullous formation of the bilateral lungs (Fig. 1A), as well as severe thoracic kyphosis, a long-term consequence of maintaining his sitting posture in bed (Fig. 1B). Although th...

Penetrating keratoplasty (PK) has emerged as a relatively safe means of restoring vision in corneal opacities and irregularities. Astigmatism is the most common cause of suboptimal vision after corneal transplantation despite a clear corneal graft.1,2 Based on several studies,3615%–31% of patients undergoing PK may develop postoperative astigmatism greater than 5 diopters (D). The astigmatism c...

BACKGROUND Minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAgs) play a critical role in the immune responses associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation, such as graft versus host disease (GVHD) and graft-versus-tumor (GVT). AIM To determine the gene frequencies of the mHAgs HA-1, HA-2 and HA-8 in Chilean Blood Bank donors. MATERIAL AND METHODS Blood from 192 blood donors was analyzed. The pr...