IMR Press / FBL / Volume 8 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.2741/1182

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Phenotypic changes with immunosuppression in human recipients
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1 Department of Medicine, Renal Division, Molecular Immunology-Immunogenetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115, USA
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2003, 8(4), 1254–1274; https://doi.org/10.2741/1182
Published: 1 September 2003
Abstract

The differentiation of lymphocyte subsets plays an important role in transplant medicine. The review describes alterations in the expression of surface molecules on circulating T cells associated with immunosuppressive therapy. Phenotypic changes are reflecting the various stages of T cell development, the degree of thymic involution, and disease- and treatment-associated perturbations. The most pronounced effects on T cell subsets are mediated by depleting therapies with mono- or polyclonal antibodies. The lymphopenia-induced homeostasis-driven proliferation leads to a novel homeostasis characterized by the expansion of cell subsets that characteristically show a phenotype of terminally differentiated cells such as CD8+CD57+CD28- T cells. Cells with these markers have long been linked with suppressor functions and recent data suggest their specific regulatory role. In addition cell phenotypes seen in transplant patients show striking similarities with changes in immune cells associated with aging. These phenotypic changes suggest an accelerated aging of the immune system in transplantation.

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