Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) has granted the research lines of Transplantation and Autoimmunity group at the Health Research and Development Strategy 2016. This group is part of the Health Research Institute Marques de Valdecilla (IDIVAL) and is leaded by the researcher Marcos López Hoyos, Head of the Immunology Department at the HUMV (Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital).
Transplant and Autoimmunity Group translates basic knowledge in Immunology from animal models to the clinic in solid organ transplantation and also to autoimmune diseases, because both processes share many pathogenic mechanisms. These mechanisms have consequences in diagnostics, therapeutics and prognosis. In transplantation, this group has a large experience and has established a great number of national and international collaborations that have helped to expand the application of new immunological biomarkers in clinical transplantation. The group is part of the Spanish Research Network in Kidney Diseases (REDINREN) financed by the ISCIII since 2009 that it has promoted relationships with the main national groups involved in renal transplant research.
Transplantation and Autoimmunity Group
Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) has granted the project “Utility of the study of Myeloid Dendritic Supressor Cells (MDSC) in the monitoring of renal transplantation” (PI16/01585) with a budget of 68.350€ and will be held at the Research Institute Valdecilla (IDIVAL).
Regulatory T cells are one of the main targets in the search for strategies to induce tolerance in organ transplantation. The induction of these cells is highly controlled by tolerogenic signals from cells of the innate immune response. In this context, Myeloid Dendritic Supressor Cells are gaining importance. Firstly identified in the context of inflammation, they are thought as helper of tumor progression whereas they could induce tolerance and graft acceptance in allotransplantation. On the contrary, MDSC impairment could facilitate the activation of cytotoxic cells or the production of anti-HLA antibodies responsible for graft rejection. Our hypothesis establishes that the generation of monocytoid MDSC is correlates with an increase in the frequency of T-reg cells and a longer graft survival in kidney transplantation. Besides, it is possible that the different types of immunosuppressants used in clinical transplantation may differentially regulate these cells.
As a consequence, MDSC are an ideal candidate as biomarker in transplantation and is within the scope of our themes of research.
