Technical innovations in the laboratory over the past ten years have greatly improved our understanding of the immunological mechanisms of transplanted organ rejection. In Transplantation Immunology: Methods and Protocols, leading experts in solid organ transplantation review the current status of the field and describe cutting-edge techniques for detecting the immune response to the allografted organ. The authors present the latest techniques for HLA typing, detecting HLA antibodies, and monitoring T-cell response, and examine more specialized methods of utilizing proteomics, laser dissection microscopy, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The areas of tolerance induction and reprogramming of the immune system are also covered, along with a discussion of up-to-date methods of organ preservation, of today's optimal immunosuppressive drug regimens, as well as the difficulty of mimicking chronic rejection in experimental models. Introductory chapters provide a theoretical update on current practices in renal, liver, islet, and lung transplantation and on the pathways of antigen presentation and chronic rejection.
State of the art and highly practical, Transplantation Immunology: Methods and Protocols illuminates for clinicians and scientists-both newcomers and experts-the new world of detecting and monitoring patients' immunological responses to solid organ transplantation.
