Working toward immune tolerance in lung transplantation

Abstract

Long-term allograft survival is a major challenge facing solid organ transplantation. Recent studies have shown a negative correlation between infiltration of memory T cells and allograft survival. Furthermore, blockade of leukocyte activation increases acceptance of transplanted organs, including heart, liver, and kidney. Lung allografts are associated with high rates of rejection, and therapies that increase acceptance of other transplanted organs have not translated into the lung. In this issue of the JCI, Krupnick and colleagues demonstrate in a murine model that lung allograft acceptance requires infiltration of a specific T cell population into the graft. This study highlights the unique immunobiology of the lung and the complexity of lung transplant tolerance.