The aim of the Education Committee (EC) is to coordinate ESOT’s efforts to advance multidisciplinary education for transplant professionals at all career levels and to contribute to their professional development.
The Basic Science Committee promotes scientific issues and transplantation research within ESOT. An active basic science community and an efficient translation of innovation into the clinic are crucial for the future of transplantation medicine.
The European Transplant Allied Healthcare Professionals (ETAHP) reaches out to allied healthcare professionals throughout Europe in order to ensure the best care possible for all transplant patients, with the aim to optimize patient outcomes.
The Young Professionals in Transplantation (YPT) is the Network for Junior Transplant professionals of ESOT, representing all young transplant clinicians and scientists who are beginning a career in transplantation and organ donation.
The mission of ECTORS is to provide a forum for discussing and stimulating novel developments in the fields of cellular therapies in organ transplantation, organ regeneration and generation of new organs from stem cells and biomaterials.
ECTTA is the forum for experience exchange on treatment of patients with end-stage heart and lung failure. Our aim is to improve outcomes for the patients.
EDTCO aims to support health care professionals to provide clinically effective programmes on organ and tissue donation, procurement and transplantation.
EKITA is the Organ Expert Section of ESOT on kidney transplantation in Europe, providing a forum for kidney transplantation professionals to exchange scientific information and views aimed at providing the best service to European patients .
The European Liver and Intestine Transplant Association (ELITA), previously known as the European Liver Transplant Association (ELTA), is a section of ESOT. Its membership represents the expertise on liver and intestinal transplantation in Europe.
ELPAT is a European platform that brings continuity and progress in European research and dialogue on "Ethical, Legal and Psychosocial Aspects of organ Transplantation". ELPAT currently consists of over 160 experts from more than 25 European countries.
EPITA is established to provide a forum for those working in the field of pancreas and islet of Langerhans transplantation or any other alternative form of beta cell replacement in Europe, to exchange scientific information and views related primarily to providing the best service for patients in Europe requiring pancreas or islet transplantation.
VCA has opened a new era in the field of transplantation, reconstructive and restorative surgery. This Section brings together 10 representatives of major European teams at the forefront in this field.
The Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP) Immunomodulation Award in Solid Organ Transplantation, offers a EUR 50,000 educational grant to recognise and support the institution of those individuals making a difference in advancing the knowledge around Therakos ECP Immunomodulation in Solid Organ Transplantation.
The award represents a unique opportunity for transplant professionals to support their development as researchers by fostering the exchange of knowledge, longer-term collaborations, and establishing personal, scientific, and corporate links between sectors.
This award is possible thanks to the kind support of Mallinckrodt.
Congratulations to our ECP Awardees:
Title: Deciphering the mechanism underlying ECP-induced immunomodulation in kidney transplantation.
Summary
The Experimental Laboratory of Nephrology and Transplantation (LENIT) aims to improve the quality of life of patients with kidney diseases. We develop basic and translational research projects to avoid or slow down the progression of renal pathology. We also develop new immunosuppressive strategies and cell therapies to minimise rejection episodes and early kidney grafts loss after transplantation. In this sense, we consider that extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) can help us to immunomodulate the alloresponse against kidney grafts. The project that has been awarded will allow us to study the mechanisms underlying ECP therapy in the context of kidney transplantation. Thus, we will analyse biological samples from patients who are currently in the NCT04414735 clinical trial. We will characterize the peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC), as well as the ECP cell product. We will evaluate the impact of ECP on the T and B cell alloresponse of patients. Finally, we will analyse the impact of ECP on the transcriptomic profile of PBMCs.
I would like to highlight that our group is a partner of the European consortium “Innovative Applications of Extracorporeal Photopheresis in Solid Organ Transplantation (exTra)”, which has been recently awarded for training doctoral students. In this context, a doctoral candidate will join our group in October 2023 to develop his/her doctoral thesis on “ECP as add-on therapy in high-risk kidney transplant recipients”.
Title: ECP treatment of chronic humoral rejection in cardiac transplantation: exploring immunomodulation by exosomes.
Introduction and background
Department of Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) has one of the largest programs of extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) in Scandinavia, performing more than 400 treatments/year. Furthermore, immunological risk assessment in organ transplantation is a core function and daily collaboration with the Department of Cardiology, AUH, is giving us the perfect set-up for conducting research projects within the field of solid organ transplantation and ECP.Heart transplantation is a well-established treatment for end-stage heart failure. Despite advances in immunosuppressive therapies, rejection remains the most common cause of death within the first 5 years post- ransplant. Cellular and humoral immunological processes are primarily directed against human leucocyte antigens (HLA) and damage the allograft. The pathogenesis of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) involves the binding of donor-specific antibodies to the allograft endothelium causing myocardial injury and allograft dysfunction, predisposing the patient to development of chronic allograft vasculopathy (CAV). AMR is seen as a spectrum from subclinical to symptomatic phases with allograft dysfunction. Management of the anti-HLA immunized recipient after heart transplantation is challenging, and ECP might be a valuable treatment.
ECP is safe, and small-scale studies have shown promising results in cardiac transplants, including reduction in donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and CAV as well as fewer acute cellular rejections.
Despite regular use in the clinic, the underlying immunomodulatory mechanism of ECP is still elusive. The mechanism may involve changes in cytokine quantities as well as an increase in regulatory T-cells (Tregs). With this in mind, we evaluated peripheral DSA and Treg levels post ECP treatment in a prospective pilot study of heart transplanted patients. Here, we observed a reduction in DSA levels concomitantly with an elevation of Treg levels for some patients.Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (EVs) measuring 40-100 nm in diameter and contain cytosolic proteins, mRNA and micro-RNA (miRNA). Studies have shown that they play a role in allograft rejection. Preliminary results in our laboratories (from 3 patients receiving ECP on cGvHD indication) indicate that ECP induces differential EV generation in a leukocyte subset-specific pattern involving upregulation of CD9 and TGFbeta-bearing exosomes upon ex vivo cell culture at 37°C for 24 and 72 hours.
Aim
We want to study and characterize the immune modulatory effects conferred by ECP in heart transplanted patients with donor-specific HLA antibodies, focusing on the involvement of EVs.
Jordi Rovira
Johanne Hjort Baatrup
