Investigation of Transplant Rejection and Regulation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of human transplant rejection and regulation
IRAS ID
257800
Contact name
Fadi Issa
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
211122/Z/18/Z, Wellcome Trust Ref Number; MR/N027930/1, Medical Research Council Ref Number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
This project is designed to develop novel treatment strategies to prevent rejection after organ transplantation.
A very important form of chronic rejection of organ transplants is transplant arteriosclerosis. Transplant arteriosclerosis, that comprises narrowing of the blood vessels supplying and within the transplant that restricts and eventually blocks the blood supply to the transplant, is one of the major factors limiting the long-term survival of a transplant. Novel treatments are needed to prevent this condition and improve transplant survival.
Skin transplants are also well known in the field to be very difficult to protect against rejection. The study of skin transplantation will allow us to assess the impact of newly developed therapies to robustly prevent graft rejection. These findings will be broadly applicable to the protection of many other forms of organ transplantation.
We will focus on developing treatment modalities for preventing transplant arteriosclerosis and skin rejection, as well as understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible. Patients will be recruited from the Plastic Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery departments within the Oxford University Hospitals and Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Tissue surplus to healthcare procedures that these patients undergo as part of their treatment, will be used to support the research, with the patients’ full and informed consent.
The human tissue samples and blood will be subject to laboratory tests and analyses to evaluate the effect of transplant rejection and potential therapeutics. Some of the tissues will be subject to gene expression and DNA analysis. In separate research permitted by existing Home Office Licences, human blood, skin, vessels and thymus will also be used in animal models.
This project is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and European Union Horizon 2020 Programme.REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
22/WS/0060
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion