In immunology generally, but not in alloimmunity, it is recognized that non-antigenic factors are required to incite immune responses. Interestingly, the disruption of molecular pathways that are critical for the development of most immune responses has only a modest affect on transplant rejection. The goal of this project is to elucidate how non-antigenic factors impact the induction of alloimmunity.

A longstanding goal in transplantation research has been to identify particular T cell populations that may be predisposed to injuring alloimmune tissue. If the specific populations of T cells that are responsible for allograft rejection could be identified, ultimately, therapies targeting those T cells rather than all T cells could be developed. A major obstacle limiting such work has been the inability to identify alloreactive T cells from polyclonal T cell populations. We have overcome this hurdle and are using a novel techniques to isolate alloreactive T cell populations.