The findings were recently published in Nature Immunology and reported by Precision Medicine suggesting that a factor called Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) takes responsibility as a driver of transplant rejection by acting like stem cells. This causes an increase in T cells that attack the newly transplanted organs.
Depending on the type of organ, rejection rates may be as high as fifty percent. Effective therapies are urgently needed to ward off the body’s immune response to the transplants.
Houston Hospital researchers report that they may have an answer.
Wenhao Chen, PhD, is an associate professor at the Houston Research Institute. Prof. Chen stated that their study illustrates that IRF4 regulates T-cell function. Prof. Chen further stated that this discovery will foster the development of therapies to protect patients with cancers, autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, and transplanted organs.
There is a vital need for the development of more effective therapies to prevent the activation of the body’s immune response.
Prof. Chen said if IRF4 is inhibited in activated T-cells then he suggests that the problem of transplant rejection may no longer exist. The Professor and his team hope to inspire other teams to expand their knowledge of mechanisms at work to learn how IRF4 affects organ rejection.
