Homepage

Organ Transplantation

Graft Rejection
    Cellular Mechanisms
    Molecular Mechanisms

Immunsuppressive Agents
    Corticosteroids
    Calcineurine Inhibitors
    Antiproliferative Agents
    Monoclonal Antibodies
    Polyclonal Antibodies
    Side Effects       

Immunotherapy
    Inductive Therapy
    Maintenance Therapy
    Episodic Treatment

Current Areas of Research
    New Drugs
    Drug Efficacy
    Alternative Therapies
        Tolerance
        Tissue Engineering
        Xenotransplantation

Glossary of Terms
References

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Alloantigen - a specific type of antigen, usually MHC (major histocompatibility complex) molecules, which are recognized by other immune systems of the same species; also called allogen
Antigen - a foreign substance that is recognized by the immune system and elicits a response
Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules - molecules, or antigens, that bind and "present" antigenic peptides on the surfaces of cells for recognition (binding) by the antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) of lymphocytes.
Cell-mediated immunity - lymphocytes bind to the surface of other cells that display the antigen and trigger a response; the response may involve any of the white blood cells, called leukocytes
Codominant - when both alleles of a trait are expressed at the same time
Complement - system of proteins that produce molecules to initiation the destruction of a foreign antigen
Cytokine - a protein compound that acts as a messenger between immune system cells
Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs) - an effector T cell specializing in foreign or diseased cell destruction
De novo pathway - a pathway for synthesising a biomolecule from simple precursor molecules
Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions - a specific effector T cell mechanism that involves specialized DTH T cells and macrophages.

Discordant - transplants between species that result in hyperacute rejection caused by surface antigens; in humans, preformed antibody against 1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) is the cause of hyperacute rejection
Endothelium - Inner lining of blood vessels
Fibrosis - formation of fibrous tissue as a reaction or as a repair process; may occur due to treatment and/or disease
Humoral immunity - antibodies that are dissolved in blood, lymph and other body fluids bind the antigen and trigger a response to it
Interleukin 2 (IL-2) and Interleukin 2 Receptor (IL-2R) - the cytokine (and receptor) responsible for clonal proliferation of lymphocytes

Ischemia - lack of oxygen rich blood to living tissue, usually resulting in irreversible damage
Neutrophils - a macrophage that participates in phagocytosis; composes large part of the white blood cells
Polymorphic - genes that have several alleles in a species, resulting in a wide variety of genotypes
T-cell - lymphocyte "born" in the thymus
Xenotransplantation - a transplant across two different species, for example between a pig and a human