Cellular and molecular mechanisms of acute vascular rejection following xenotransplantation

The most pressing and immediate problem in the field of transplantation is the shortage of organs. There are more than 3,000 Canadians on transplant waiting lists. Up to 20% of those patients for vital heart and liver transplants die while on the waiting list. Xenotransplantation (using animal organs for human donors) will save the lives of thousands of patients. The proposed studies will investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms of rejection and develop sophisticated immunological methods to overcome vigorous rejection following xenotransplantation. Increasing this knowledge and developing these technologies will impact positively on the number of transplants performed, and on their success rates. Successful xenotransplantation will have an economic global impact that is enormous.