The influence of a polymorphism in the CTLA4 gene on HPCT outcome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The influence of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CTLA4 gene on haematopoietic progenitor cell transplant outcomes
IRAS ID
241215
Contact name
Natalia Diaz Burlinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Manchester University Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
In certain circumstances, patients with blood cancer or disease can be treated by replacing the patient’s blood and immune cells with donor cells to remove the cancer or disease. This is now a well-established, cell replacement therapy that is formally known as haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT). The ‘haematopoietic progenitor’ part of the title refers to the specific donor cells that are transplanted, which are a special type of cell that will produce the new donor blood cells in the recipient after transplantation.
Sometimes, donor immune cells (the body’s defence cells) are transferred to the patient as part of the transplant and these can cause graft versus host disease (GvHD) after HPCT. GvHD is where the donor defence cells recognise the patient’s cells in the body as foreign and start to attack them. This so-called immune response is usually caused by the presence of special immune cells in the transplanted donor material called T cells.
Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA4) is a molecule that is present on the surface of active T cells and is important for reducing the T-cell response. The CTLA4 gene is responsible for the expression of the CTLA4 molecule on T cells, and it has been suggested that small differences in this gene can alter the effectiveness of the T-cell inhibition caused by CTLA4.
If, by using CTLA4, the T cells transferred from the donor (as part of the transplanted material) could be stopped from attacking the recipient’s cells, then GvHD could be prevented after HPCT and the transplant may be more successful. The aim of this project is therefore to assess the small CTLA4 gene differences in HPCT patient and donor pairs to see if there is a correlation between certain differences and improved transplant outcomes.REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1996
Date of REC Opinion
22 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion