Characterization of human DNGR-1+ BDCA3+ leukocytes as putative equivalents of mouse CD8α+ dendritic cells

In mouse, a subset of dendritic cells (DCs) known as CD8α+ DCs has emerged as an important player in the regulation of T cell responses and a promising target in vaccination strategies. However, translation into clinical protocols has been hampered by the failure to identify CD8α+ DCs in humans. Here, we characterize a population of human DCs that expresses DNGR-1 (CLEC9A) and high levels of BDCA3 and resembles mouse CD8α+ DCs in phenotype and function. We describe the presence of such cells in the spleens of humans and humanized mice and report on a protocol to generate them in vitro. Like mouse CD8α+ DCs, human DNGR-1+ BDCA3hi DCs express Necl2, CD207, BATF3, IRF8, and TLR3, but not CD11b, IRF4, TLR7, or (unlike CD8α+ DCs) TLR9. DNGR-1+ BDCA3hi DCs respond to poly I:C and agonists of TLR8, but not of TLR7, and produce interleukin (IL)-12 when given innate and T cell–derived signals. Notably, DNGR-1+ BDCA3+ DCs from in vitro cultures efficiently internalize material from dead cells and can cross-present exogenous antigens to CD8+ T cells upon treatment with poly I:C. The characterization of human DNGR-1+ BDCA3hi DCs and the ability to grow them in vitro opens the door for exploiting this subset in immunotherapy

2013 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections

Peer reviewe

Belgium and organ donation: a further increase in organ donation in 2007! Preface to the 15(th) Annual Meeting of the Belgian Transplantation Society.

In 2007, the Belgian annual rate of effective cadaveric organ donors further increased to 28.1 per million inhabitants, up from 26.2% in 2006 (http://www.transplant.be/donor/TxCoord.pdf). In numbers, 541 potential cadaveric organ donors were referred to the different transplant centers, resulting in 291 effective organ donors. The main reason for no organ retrieval was medical contraindications (34% of the total referrals). Family refusals dropped to less than 13%. Mean organ yielding was 3.55 per donation after brain death (DBD) donors and 2.28 per donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors, allowing a retrieval of 97.82 transplantable organs per million inhabitants, one of the highest so far to the best of our knowledge. This high rate of organ donation is certainly linked to the opting-out (or presumed consent) Belgian transplantation law, to the high motivation of the different Belgian transplant programs and intensive care units, to the confidence of the Belgian population in the Belgian medicine, and to the federal and regional political incentives to organ donation, as the Beldonor or the GIFT projects. This high rate of donation, in addition to active programs of living donation in kidney and liver transplantation and to MELD allocation, allowed to a significant decrease in the number of patients on the liver and kidney waiting lists( -34% and -18% in two years, respectively)

14th Annual meeting of the Belgian Transplantation Society - March 27, 2007, Brussels, Belgium - Preface

SCOPUS: ed.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Rôle des cytokines dans la tolérance de transplantation et l'immunopathologie induites par l'injection néonatale d'alloantigènes chez la souris

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Transplantation tolerance: European union meets the challenge

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

La tolérance aux allogreffes: L'Europe relève le défi

Recent developments in basic and translational immunology open new exciting perspectives for the induction of transplantation tolerance in the clinic. However, a number of hurdles still need to be overcome before immunosuppressive drugs can be safely withdrawn in solid organ transplant recipients. With this background, the European Commission recently launched several initiatives to tackle unmet needs in transplantation medicine. Herein, we focus attention on the RISET project, an ongoing collaborative effort across the European Union aiming at minimization of immunosuppression on the basis of validated biomarkers.SCOPUS: sh.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The unbearable lightness of therapeutic algorithms in colorectal liver metastasis

SCOPUS: ed.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Treatment of colon endoscopic perforations.

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe