The role of innate immunity in acute Graft versus Host disease

Treatment paradigms for solid and hematological malignancies are evolving rapidly; nevertheless allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative therapy for several hematological diseases. As 30 -60 % of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation suffer from Graft versus Host disease (GvHD) and treatment of steroid refractory disease is challenging, the major therapeutic challenge is still to spare beneficial Graft-versus-Tumor effect from deleterious GvHD.

Recent research has unveiled the role of innate immune cells in the initiation and maintenance of aGvHD. To identify novel therapeutic venues, we investigated chemokine expression in an experimental model of aGvHD and we were able to identify novel putative targets. In this funded project, we aim to clarify the role and migration of innate immune cells in aGvHD.

http://www.haematologie-onkologie-bonn.de/forschung/ag-heine/

http://www.iei-bonn.de/research-interests/dr-annkristin-heine/