On the utility of screening for anti-MICA antibodies before kidney transplantation
Jean-Paul Soulillou
Correspondence CHU Jean Monnet, 30 Boulevard Jean Monnet, 44093 Nantes Cedex 1, France
Email jean-paul.soulillou@univ-nantes.fr
This article has no abstract so we have provided the first paragraph of the full text.
MICA genes are located in the major histocompatibility complex,1 and the products of these genes are connected to innate immunity.2 Expression of MICA antigens on allografts can trigger various responses in recipients, including antibody production.3 Anti-MICA antibodies appear some time after transplantation and cause chronic endothelial cell activation (which can lead to chronic rejection);3 pre-existing anti-MICA antibodies can also provoke acute humoral rejection immediately following transplantation.4 Because MICA antigens are not expressed on lymphocytes, anti-MICA antibodies cannot be detected by classical lymphocyte screening panels or by crossmatching before transplantation. They can, however, be detected in sera using various methods, including Luminex® (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX) beads coated with MICA antigens or cells transfected with MICA genes.
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