A molecular and computational diagnostic approach identifies FOXP3, ICOS, CD52 and CASP1 as the most informative biomarkers in acute graft-versus-host disease.

Background: Acute graft-versus-host disease is a severe complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in which the functional immune cells of the donor recognize the recipient as foreign and mount an immunological attack. There is an urgent need for better diagnostic instruments for the assessment of acute graft-versus-host disease. In the present study, a novel bioinformatics framework was used to identify gene expression patterns associated with acute graft-versushost disease in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.