Cutting edge: Immunological consequences and trafficking of human regulatory macrophages administered to renal transplant recipients

Journal article

Regulatory macrophages (M regs) were administered to two living-donor renal transplant recipients. Both patients were minimized to low-dose tacrolimus monotherapy within 24 wk of transplantation and subsequently maintained excellent graft function. After central venous administration, most M regs remained viable and were seen to traffic from the pulmonary vasculature via the blood to liver, spleen, and bone marrow. By 1 y posttransplantation, both patients displayed patterns of peripheral blood gene expression converging upon the IOT-RISET signature. Furthermore, both patients maintained levels of peripheral blood FOXP3 and TOAG-1 mRNA expression within the range consistent with nonrejection. It is concluded that M regs warrant further study as a potential immune-conditioning therapy for use in solid-organ transplantation. The results of this work are being used to inform the design of The ONE Study, a multinational clinical trial of immunomodulatory cell therapy in renal transplantation. Copyright © 2011 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Authors: Hutchinson, J; Riquelme, P; Sawitzki, B; Tomiuk, S; Miqueu, P

• Journal: Journal of Immunology
• Volume: 187
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 2072-2078
• Publication date: 2011-09-01
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1100762
• EISSN: 1550-6606
• ISSN: 0022-1767
• Language: English