Immunogenetics LaboratoryDepartment of Biomedical Sciences

Despite the advent of new therapeutic agents, including imatinib (for BCR-ABL-positive leukemias) and rituximab (for B-cell tumors), allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the only treatment offering a cure for patients with advanced hematological malignancies such as lymphoma and leukemia. However, immunocompetent T cells in BM transplants develop responses against allo-antigens of recipient origin, leading to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). GVHD is a life-threatening complication that leads to dysfunction of multiple tissues and organs, including the gastrointestinal tract, liver, lungs and skin. On the other hand, transplanted donor T cells exert a potent anti-tumor effect, called graft-versus-tumor (GVT) or graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects, by recognizing recipient allo-antigens expressed by tumor and leukemia cells. Thus, the ultimate goal of BM transplantation is to develop a strategy to maximize the GVL effect while suppressing GVHD. Our group is investigating the biology of the CD8 T cell response, the molecular mechanism of T cell migration to target organs, and the cellular interaction between CD4 and CD8 T cells and/or between adaptive and innate immune cells to develop strategies to reduce the risk of GVHD while preserving the GVL effect.