Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026
In Vitro and In Vivo Assessment of T, B and Myeloid Cells Suppressive Activity and Humoral Responses from Transplant Recipients
Published on: August 12, 2017
Plasma Exosomes From HLA-Sensitized Kidney Transplant Recipients Contain mRNA Transcripts Which Predict Development
Hao Zhang1, Edmund Huang, Joseph Kahwaji
11 Transplant Immunology Laboratory, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 2 Comprehensive Transplant Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 3 Department of Nephrology, Kaiser-Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 4 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 5 Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 6 Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Research Center, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Background:
Sensitization to HLA remains a significant immunologic barrier to successful transplantation. Identifying immune mechanisms responsible for antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is an important goal. Here, we explored the possibility of predicting the risk for AMR by measuring mRNA transcripts of AMR-associated genes in plasma exosomes from kidney transplant patients.
Methods:
Total RNA was extracted from exosomes purified from 152 ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-plasma samples of 64 patients (18 AMR, 8 cell-mediated rejection [CMR], 38 no rejection in desensitized [DES] and non-DES control groups) for reverse transcription into cDNA, preamplification and then real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for 21 candidate genes. The mRNA transcript levels of each gene were calculated. Comparisons were made among 4 patient groups for each gene and also for a gene combination score based on selected genes.
Results:
Among 21 candidate genes, we identified multiple genes (gp130, CCL4, TNFα, SH2D1B, CAV1, atypical chemokine receptor 1 [duffy blood group]) whose mRNA transcript levels in plasma exosomes significantly increased among AMR compared with CMR and/or control patients. A gene combination score calculated from 4 genes of gp130, SH2D1B, TNFα, and CCL4 was significantly higher in the AMR than the CMR (P < 0.0001) and no rejection control groups (P < 0.01 vs DES control, P < 0.05 vs non-DES control).
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that plasma exosomes may contain information indicating clinical conditions of kidney transplant patients. mRNA transcript profiles based on gp130, SH2D1B, TNFα, and CCL4 in plasma exosomes may be used to predict on-going and/or imminent AMR.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Kidney Transplant I: Introduction
01:40Cell-mediated Immune Responses
01:26Kidney Transplant II: Surgical Procedure
01:24Tissue Transplantation
The Biology of Tissue Transplantation
The biology of tissue transplantation hinges on the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. These molecules...
01:36Overview of Exosomes
Stahl et al. discovered exosomes in 1983, but the exosomes were initially considered waste products released from the...
01:22Bone Marrow Sampling and Transplants
The transplant begins with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which aim to destroy...