Abdominal Area, Kidneys & Pelvis
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Investigating immunoproteasome inhibition

Institution: University of Konstanz, Department Biology, Division of Immunology
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Marcus Groettrup
Funding line:
Key Projects
Urologist Dr. med. Jun Li and immunologist Prof. Dr. Marcus Groettrup discussing data in their laboratory at the University of Konstanz

A new therapeutic approach to prevent chronic antibody-mediated rejection of renal allografts: Within ten years after transplantation approximately half of renal transplants are lost on average by chronic, antibody-mediated graft rejection. In this project we could show in rats that the inhibition of the immunoproteasome prevents the chronic rejection of transplanted kidneys. Plasma cells, which produce the allo-antibodies directed against the transplanted kidneys, were killed by inhibition of the immunoproteasome. The transplanted kidneys showed hardly any inflammatory tissue damage and a well preserved organ function. Our data encourage that an inhibitor of the immunoproteasome which is already in clinical testing for the therapy of autoimmune diseases should also be clinically assessed in transplantation medicine.

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