Donate Help Contact The AHA Sign In Home
American Heart Association
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Search: search_blue_button Advanced Search
Published Online
on September 18, 2008

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008
Published online before print September 18, 2008, doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.161232
A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2008
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/11/1937    most recent
ATVBAHA.107.161232v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shimizu, K.
Right arrow Articles by Mitchell, R. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shimizu, K.
Right arrow Articles by Mitchell, R. N.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Organ Transplantation

Submitted on June 5, 2008
Accepted on September 8, 2008

The Role of Chemokines in Transplant Graft Arterial Disease

Koichi Shimizu and Richard N. Mitchell *

From the Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine (K.S.), and Department of Pathology (R.N.M.), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rmitchell{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

Abstract—Despite the development of effective immunosuppressive therapy, transplant graft arterial disease (GAD) remains the major limitation to long-term graft survival. Multiple immune and nonimmune risk factors contribute to this vasculopathic intimal hyperplastic process. Thus, initial interplay between host inflammatory cells and donor endothelial cells triggers alloimmune responses, whereas alloantigen-independent factors such as prolonged ischemia, surgical manipulation, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and hyperlipidemia enhance the antigen-dependent events. Intrinsic to all stages of this process are chemokines, a family of 8- to 10-kDa proteins mediating directional migration of immune cells to sites of inflammation and injury. Beyond their role in immune-cell chemotaxis, chemokines also contribute to cellular activation, vascular remodeling, and angiogenesis. Expression of chemokines and their cognate receptors in allografts correlates with acute organ rejection, as well as GAD. Moreover, chemokine or chemokine receptor blockade prolongs graft survival and attenuates GAD in experimental models. Further studies will likely confirm a substantial utility for antichemokine therapy in human organ transplantation.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
CirculationHome page
K. Shimizu, M. Minami, R. Shubiki, M. Lopez-Ilasaca, L. MacFarlane, Y. Asami, Y. Li, R. N. Mitchell, and P. Libby
CC Chemokine Receptor-1 Activates Intimal Smooth Muscle-Like Cells in Graft Arterial Disease
Circulation, November 3, 2009; 120(18): 1800 - 1813.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]