FIGURE 2. Allogeneic HCT as a therapy for autoimmune disease.
From the following article:
Treatment of severe autoimmune disease by stem-cell transplantation
Megan Sykes and Boris Nikolic
Nature 435, 620-627 (2 June 2005)
doi: 10.1038/nature03728
Red cells represent autoreactive host lymphocytes; green cells represent non-autoreactive host lymphocytes; yellow denotes donor lymphocytes; blue cells represent HSC. The steps in allogeneic HCT include the following. a, Mobilization regimen: these are similar to the methods employed for autologous HCT, except that cyclophosphamide and other chemotherapies are not used to mobilize stem cells. Mobilization is achieved using the growth factor G-CSF. b, HSC harvest, with or without ex vivo CD34 selection. This step is similar to that used for auto-HCT. c, In vivo lymphocyte depletion: this step depletes host T and B cells to prevent rejection and treat the autoimmune disease; it may also be aimed at depleting donor T cells (to prevent GVHD). d, Stem-cell transplantation: as for auto-HCT. e, Post-transplantation immunosuppression: as prophylaxis against both rejection mediated by residual host T cells and GVHD mediated by contaminating donor T cells, allo-HCT usually requires additional post-transplantation immunosupression with agents such as cyclosporine A and mycophenolate mofetil.
