Expansion and characterization of immune suppressive CD56(bright)Perforin(-) regulatory-like natural killer cells in chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Background: Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). Previously, in large patient cohorts, we identified increased numbers of CD56Perforin regulatory-like NK cells (NK-like) associated with cGvHD suppression. Thus, we hypothesized that NK-like cells may be a potential candidate for cGvHD cell therapy.

Circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in chronic and late acute graft-versus-host disease in children.

In an earlier study, we found that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) concentration is elevated in adults with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD), acting as an endogenous source of TLR9 agonists to augment B-cell responses. To validate this in children, we evaluated mtDNA plasma expression in a large pediatric cohort (ABLE/PBMTC 1202 study). Plasma cell-free mtDNA (cf-mtDNA) copy numbers were measured in 202 pediatric patients using quantitative Droplet Digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR).

Ultrafast response of spontaneous photovoltaic effect in 3R-MoS-based heterostructures.

Rhombohedrally stacked MoS has been shown to exhibit spontaneous polarization down to the bilayer limit and can sustain a strong depolarization field when sandwiched between graphene. Such a field gives rise to a spontaneous photovoltaic effect without needing any p-n junction. In this work, we show that the photovoltaic effect has an external quantum efficiency of 10% for devices with only two atomic layers of MoS at low temperatures, and identify a picosecond-fast photocurrent response, which translates to an intrinsic device bandwidth at ∼100-GHz level.

A diagnostic classifier for pediatric chronic graft-versus-host disease: results of the ABLE/PBMTC 1202 study.

The National Institutes of Health Consensus criteria for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) diagnosis can be challenging to apply in children, making pediatric cGVHD diagnosis difficult. We aimed to identify diagnostic pediatric cGVHD biomarkers that would complement the current clinical criteria and help differentiate cGVHD from non-cGVHD. The Applied Biomarkers of Late Effects of Childhood Cancer (ABLE) study, open at 27 transplant centers, prospectively evaluated 302 pediatric patients after hematopoietic cell transplant (234 evaluable).

CD56bright CD16- natural killer cells as an important regulatory mechanism in chronic graft--host disease.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is a major cause of morbidity after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In large patient populations, we have shown a CD56bright natural killer (NK) population to strongly associate with a lack of cGvHD and we hypothesize that these cells function to suppress cGvHD. We aimed to isolate and define the characteristics of regulatory NK (NKreg) cells associated with suppression of cGvHD.