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Involvement of OX40 ligand+ mast cells in chronic GVHD after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 39, pages 373–375 (2007)Cite this article

The management of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a continuing problem in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Whereas considerable progress has been made in prevention and treatment of acute GVHD (aGVHD), chronic GVHD (cGVHD) remains virtually unsolved, diminishing the prognosis and quality of life of post-allo-HSCT patients.1 There is no satisfactory animal model of cGVHD to study the immunological process of the disease. Accordingly, careful investigation of clinical samples obtained from cGVHD patients is of particular importance and it is the only reliable way to get insights into the pathogenesis of cGVHD.

OX40 (CD134), a member of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family, is expressed on activated CD4+ as well as CD8+ T cells. The interaction of OX40 with its ligand (OX40L), a TNF family molecule, generates costimulatory signals, resulting in enhanced T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. The OX40 ligation is known to be crucial for appropriate antigen presentation by dendritic cells leading to clonal expansion and long-term survival of antigen-specific T cells.2 In murine models, several reports have indicated that the OX40/OX40L system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of aGVHD.3

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by the grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. We thank Dr H Shimada (Shizuoka General Hospital) for his cooperation in collecting the skin samples and Dr T Shirase (Laboratory of Anatomic Pathology, Kyoto University) for the useful advice from pathological point of view. We also thank Dr M Hishizawa for his experimental support and Ms K Fukunaga (Department of Hematology and Oncology, Kyoto University) for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    A Kotani, T Hori, T Fujita, T Ishikawa & T Uchiyama

  2. Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    N Kambe, Y Matsumura & Y Miyachi

  3. Division of Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Kobe City General Hospital, Kobe, Japan

    K Nagai

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Okinawa-Asia Research Center of Medical Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

    Y Tanaka

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  1. A Kotani
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Correspondence to T Hori.

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Kotani, A., Hori, T., Fujita, T. et al. Involvement of OX40 ligand+ mast cells in chronic GVHD after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 39, 373–375 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705587

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