Source: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Date: February 21, 2007
Summary:
Researchers at H. Lee Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tampa, led by William Kerr Ph.D., and funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, have discovered that the SHIP gene plays a critical role in graft vs. host disease (GvHD), in which a donor's immune cells (the "graft") attack a stem cell transplant patient's healthy tissue (the "host") as well as cancer cells. By using genetically engineered mice, the researchers have shown that inactivating the SHIP gene for just one week protects transplant recipients from acute GvHD. This protection is seen even when the graft contains extra immune cells to help the graft "take" or when the graft cells are completely mismatched to the recipient. The findings will be published in the March 1st issue of the "Journal of Immunology."
