Modelling Adaptive Immune Responses Using Human Lymphoid Tissue
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating adaptive immune responses using human lymphoid tissue to enhance cardiac grafting efficiency
IRAS ID
369383
Contact name
Johannes Bargehr
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/a, N/a
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to understand how the body’s adaptive immune system affects the success of heart cell transplantation and how this knowledge can improve heart repair. Heart failure affects nearly one million people in the UK and about half die within five years of diagnosis. Heart transplantation is the only treatment that replaces lost heart muscle but it is available to only around 200 patients each year and requires lifelong medication with significant risks. Regenerative medicine using human pluripotent stem cell-derived heart cells (hPSC-CM) offers a scalable way to replace damaged heart muscle after a heart attack. However, a major challenge is poor survival of transplanted cells, largely because they are attacked by the patient’s adaptive immune system, which remains poorly studied.
To investigate this, we will use immune organoids grown from donated human lymphoid tissue, including tonsils, spleen and lymph nodes. These organoids generate a human adaptive immune response in the laboratory. This will allow us to identify the main causes of immune rejection of transplanted heart cells, understand how immune cells are activated and interact with hPSC-CM and test ways to block these responses without long-term whole-body immunosuppression.
The study is funded by the applicant’s British Heart Foundation Intermediate Clinical Research Fellowship and will run for five years. The tissue bank at Addenbrooke’s Hospital will identify patients undergoing planned tonsil removal, trauma-related spleen removal or benign diagnostic lymph node excision. Tissue that would otherwise be discarded will be provided for research. Because adaptive immune responses differ between individuals, key demographic information, including age, sex, ethnicity and reason for surgery, will be provided without patient identifiers to allow accurate interpretation of results.
This study poses no additional risk to patients and is expected to provide important insights into heart transplantation biology, helping to overcome key immune barriers to effective heart repair.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/LO/0272
Date of REC Opinion
23 Apr 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion