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In Situ Detection of HY-Specific T Cells in Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease-Affected Male Skin after Sex-Mismatched Stem Cell Transplantation

  • Yeung Hyen Kim
  • , Claudia M.J.M. Faaij
  • , Astrid G.S. van Halteren
  • , Ellen Schrama
  • , Trees A.M. de Jong
  • , Jørgen Schøller
  • , R. Maarten Egeler
  • , Stan Pavel
  • , Florry A. Vyth-Dreese
  • , Maarten J.D. van Tol
  • , Els Goulmy
  • , Eric Spierings

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

HY-specific T cells are presumed to play a role in acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after female-to-male stem cell transplantation (SCT). However, infiltrates of these T cells in aGVHD-affected tissues have not yet been reported. We evaluated the application of HLA-A2/HY dextramers for the in situ detection of HY-specific T cells in cryopreserved skin biopsy specimens. We applied the HLA-A2/HY dextramers on cryopreserved skin biopsy specimens from seven male HLA-A2+ pediatric patients who underwent stem cell transplantation with confirmed aGVHD involving the skin. The dextramers demonstrated the presence of HY-specific T cells. In skin biopsy specimens of three male recipients of female grafts, 68% to 78% of all skin-infiltrating CD8+ T cells were HY-specific, whereas these cells were absent in biopsy specimens collected from sex-matched patient-donor pairs. Although this study involved a small and heterogeneous patient group, our results strongly support the hypothesis that HY-specific T cells are actively involved in the pathophysiology of aGVHD after sex-mismatched stem cell transplantation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)381-387
Number of pages7
JournalBiology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antigen/peptide/epitopes
  • Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
  • Human
  • Minor histocompatibility antigen
  • Pediatric

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