Strategies to boost regulatory dendritic cells and reduce drugs in kidney transplant success
Official title: Innovative strategies to enhance DCreg function and promote IS drug-free kidney transplant survival
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11365819 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A research project aims to improve kidney transplant survival by using special immune cells and targeted therapies to reduce or stop the need for long-term medications.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | July 3, 2025 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $765,065 |
| NIH project number | 5P01AI181829-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11365819 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Candidates would be individuals with kidney transplant considerations who could participate in future DCreg-based trials or related immunomodulatory approaches.
✕Less likely to help
The project is preclinical and does not directly involve current patients receiving transplantation now; benefits depend on future clinical translation.
What this research studies
This project plans to extend kidney graft survival in nonhuman primates by two approaches: directly inhibiting dendritic cells in the body or transferring a patient’s own regulatory dendritic cells that are trained with donor signals. It will use cutting-edge methods to understand how donor-specific tolerance develops and identify biomarkers that predict success. The work is coordinated through core administrative teams and interconnected with other projects and facilities, with potential pathways to future human trials. The study also considers translating findings into clinical trials assessing DCreg therapies for organ transplantation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could experience longer graft survival with less dependence on immunosuppressive drugs.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research supports the concept of regulatory dendritic cells and LILRB pathways showing tolerogenic responses in transplant models, but clinical translation remains in early stages.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Thomson, Angus W — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Thomson, Angus W
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Microbial clues to diagnose and predict infections in kidney transplant patients
A patient-focused project will look for microbial biomarkers in stool, blood, and urine to help doctors predict and diagnose infections in people who have had a kidney transplant.
-
Immunological mechanisms behind treatment-resistant kidney transplant rejection
This grant explores why certain kidney transplant rejections don’t respond to standard treatments and what immune cells in the graft are driving that resistance.
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Complement-Bound Exosomes and Kidney Transplant Immunity
This project studies how kidney transplant injury and rejection happen after surgery and whether blocking certain immune pathways during organ preservation could improve transplant outcomes.
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Blood vessel signals predicting heart problems after kidney transplant
This project studies blood markers and tissue patterns after kidney transplants to identify which patients are at highest risk of cardiovascular problems.
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Understanding how BK virus links infection to kidney transplant rejection
This project looks at how BK polyomavirus reactivation affects kidney transplant patients and aims to use pre-transplant T cell information to tailor immunosuppression and monitoring.
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Characterization of a LILRB3 SNP cluster and its link to kidney transplant outcomes
A study in kidney transplant recipients looks at genetic factors that may be tied to higher risk of graft failure.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.