Memory lapses in graft-versus-host disease

Graft Versus Host Disease

Commonly referred to as GVHD, graft-versus-host disease is a man-made condition that arises when patients are transplanted with donor tissue that is not identical to their own. Transplants from other individuals are called allogeneic (‘allo’ meaning ‘other’ and ‘geneic’ referring to ‘genes’). GVHD occurs after hematopoietic stem cell or bone marrow transplantation but is most commonly experienc...

Graft versus Host Disease

Definition Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the most common complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In HSCT, the patient’s bone marrow is destroyed with chemotherapy and/or radiation and replaced by donor hematopoietic stem cells. In allogeneic HSCT the donor is usually a close family member or occasionally someone outside the family who has been found to b...

Graft-versus-host disease or graft-versus-host-like syndrome.

Central memory CD8+ T cells induce graft-versus-host disease and mediate graft-versus-leukemia.

In allogeneic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation, mature donor alphabeta T cells in the allograft promote T cell reconstitution in the recipient and mediate the graft-vs-leukemia (GVL) effect. Unfortunately, donor T cells can attack nonmalignant host tissues and cause graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). It has previously been shown that effector memory T cells not primed to alloantigen do not caus...

Effector memory CD4+ T cells mediate graft-versus-leukemia without inducing graft-versus-host disease.

Much of the efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) in curing hematologic malignancies is due to a graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect mediated by donor T cells that recognize recipient alloantigens on leukemic cells. Donor T cells are also important for reconstituting immunity in the recipient. Unfortunately, donor T cells can attack nonmalignant host tissues an...