Natural Killer cells in lung transplantation

Aislin Meehan, PhD student in Medicine, is first author on a paper published in PLOS One, investigating the effect of Natural Killer (NK) cells in lung transplantation. NK cells have the potential to be alloreactive, and cause a problem with the transplant. Their research elucidated pathways of NK cell activation, and showed that various transplant immunosuppression regimes and post transplantation events have different effects on NK cell function.
Reference: Meehan AC, Mifsud NA, Nguyen THO, Levvey BJ, Snell GI, Kotsimbos TC, Westall GP. Impact of commonly used transplant immunosuppressive drugs on human NKk cell function is dependent upon stimulation condition. PLOS One, 2013, v.8, no.3. Journal article.