Characterisation of RAET1E/ULBP4 exon 4 and 3' untranslated region genetic architecture reveals further diversity and allelic polymorphism.

NKG2D is a natural killer cell activating receptor recognising ligands on infected or tumorigenic cells, leading to their cytolysis. There are eight known genes encoding NKG2D ligands: MICA, MICB and ULBP1-6. MICA and MICB are highly polymorphic and well characterised, whilst ULBP ligands are less polymorphic and the functional implication of their diversity is not well understood.

Impact of donor NKG2D and MICA gene polymorphism on clinical outcomes of adult and paediatric allogeneic cord blood transplantation for malignant diseases.

Objectives: NKG2D is an activating receptor expressed by natural killer (NK) and CD8+ T cells and activation intensity varies by NKG2D expression level or nature of its ligand. An NKG2D gene polymorphism determines high (HNK1) or low (LNK1) expression. MICA is the most polymorphic NKG2D ligand and stronger effector cell activation associates with methionine rather than valine at residue 129.

Enumerating regulatory T cells in cryopreserved umbilical cord blood samples using FOXP3 methylation specific quantitative PCR.

Background: Allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a curative therapy for severe haematological disorders. However, it carries significant risk of morbidity and mortality. To improve patient outcomes, better graft selection strategies are needed, incorporating HLA matching with clinically important graft characteristics.

Clinical Grade Regulatory CD4 T Cells (Tregs): Moving Toward Cellular-Based Immunomodulatory Therapies.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are CD4 T cells that are key players of immune tolerance. They are powerful suppressor cells, able to impact the function of numerous immune cells, including key effectors of inflammation such as effector T cells. For this reason, Tregs are an ideal candidate for the development of cell therapy approaches to modulate immune responses.

Increased regulatory T cell graft content is associated with improved outcome in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a systematic review.

Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality, often due to the development of acute or chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Low numbers or proportions of regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been reported in patients who develop GVHD. We undertook a systematic review of studies that reported the Treg composition of HSCT grafts in patients with haematological malignancies.