Current Gene Therapy - Volume 17, Issue 6, 2017

In deceased donors, Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury (IRI) is an important cause of allograft dysfunction. Prolonged cold and warm ischemia time leads to a high risk of early post-transplant complications, including acute and chronic rejection. Ischemia not only up-regulates inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, but also enhances the expression of MHC-class II and adhesion molecules on epithelial and dendritic cells. Moreover, t Read More

Acute kidney injury has been a tough complex with increased mortality and morbidity. Inflammatory responses, including innate and adaptive immune responses, involve in the initiation and development of acute kidney injury, especially under the ischemic circumstances. Tubular cells and distinct immune cell subgroups play a critical role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. Current gene therapies show their benefits in ren Read More

Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury (IRI) is one of the main causes of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), and may lead to chronic kidney disease. The high mortality rate of AKI has not changed in the last 5 decades due to non-recognition, nephrotoxin exposure, delayed diagnosis and lack of specific intervention. Complement activation plays important roles in IRI-induced AKI because of its association with immunity, inflammation, cell Read More

Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD) is one of the major complications of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and is currently the most common cause of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) worldwide. Traditionally, DKD is considered a disease which has nothing to do with the immune system, and the pathogenesis is mainly characterized to be metabolic disturbance. Recent growing evidence indicates immunologic and inflammatory mechanisms in t Read More

Allograft loss remains a severe clinical problem after kidney transplantation. The molecular mechanism of graft loss is a complex process involving T and/or B cell activation, inflammation responses, autophagy and apoptosis. Since these pathways are involved in immune responses in kidney transplant rejection, application of genetic interference to inhibit specific pathways could present an effective targeted gene therapy me Read More

The fractalkine receptor chemokine (C-X3-C motif) receptor 1 (CX3CR1) and its highly selective ligand CX3CL1 mediate chemotaxis and adhesion of immune cells, which are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of numerous inflammatory disorders and malignancies. The CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis has recently drawn attention as a potential therapeutic target because it is involved in the ontogeny, homeostatic migration, or colo Read More

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a common syndrome in the clinic and has become a worldwide public health problem. Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury (IRI) is the most common cause of AKI. So far, effective treatment is still lacking for renal IRI, resulting in a high mortality rate of AKI. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), considered as a promising candidate for tissue repair and regenerative medicine have aroused an incr Read More

Regulatory T (Treg) cells are a kind of immunosuppression cells, which have been used to treat autoimmune diseases and induce allograft tolerance in clinical trials. While Treg cells based therapy is a promising treatment for kidney diseases and an emerging concept for tolerance induction in renal transplantation, a better understanding of the functions and biology of Treg cells is needed to be able to optimally exploit them. Ep Read More