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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center physician-scientists are presenting exciting new research at the 2007 American Transplant Congress 7th Joint Meeting of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) and the American Society of Transplantation (AST) in San Francisco, May 5-May 9. Among the most significant presentations are the following:

FoxP3 Protein Used in Transplantation – Moscone Convention Center West, Room 2014-2016, Saturday, May 5th, 8:30 am - 9:00 am

Dr. Manikkam Suthanthiran, chief of the Division of Transplantation Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and chairman of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Weill Cornell Medical College, will be presenting research on FoxP3, a protein expressed by immune cells that protect transplant cells from destruction. The FoxP3 protein has been studied in the kidney and pancreatic islet cell transplants for the treatment of renal disease and diabetes, respectively. Dr. Suthanthiran's past research on FoxP3 has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Novel Approaches to Assess Allograft Status – San Francisco Marriott Hotel, Salon 1, Tuesday, May 8th, 7:00 am - 8:15 am

Dr. Suthanthiran has developed and pioneered a novel, non-invasive technique for diagnosing clinical events in transplant rejection, tolerance and viral infection in renal transplant recipients. By analyzing molecular profiles in urinary cells of patients, Dr. Suthanthiran and his colleagues have not only identified important new pathways of rejection and tolerance, but have also demonstrated that this test has clinical use in the care of transplant patients. The studies that will be presented this week include new information covering a wide range of clinically relevant areas including what makes kidney transplants fail, why some transplants can last for decades and others don't, and how to monitor the status of kidney transplants in children.

Abstracts Presented by Investigators From the Division of Nephrology/Transplantation Medicine Department

[20] Unregulated Heightened Inflammatory Response in Stable Renal Allograft Recipients with BKV Replication.
Authors: D. Dadhania, C. Snopkowski, T. Muthukumar, R. Ding, K. Wang, J. Lee, V.K. Sharma, B. Li, M. Suthanthiran
Session Info: Concurrent Session: BK Virus (2:15 pm - 3:45 pm)
Presentation Time: Sunday, May 6, 2007, 3:15 pm
Room: 2009/2011

[1311] Donor Dendritic Cells Plus TGF-ß1 for the Differentiation of Allograft Protective Foxp3+CD25+CD4+ T Regulatory Cells.
Authors: Hua Yang, Vijay K. Sharma, Ping Song, Ruchuang Ding, Milagros Lagman, Alexandra Pierre, Xunrong Luo, Dolca Thomas, Manikkam Suthanthiran
Session Info: Poster Session: Tolerance/Immune Deviation I (12:45 pm - 2:00 pm)
Presentation Time: Monday, May 7, 2007, 12:45 pm
Room: Exhibit Hall, Lobby Level, Moscone West Convention Center

[303] Biomarkers of Long-Term Renal Allograft Function. Authors: A. C. Schaffer, D. Dadhania, C. Snopkowski, R. Ding, T. Muthukumar, C. Hartono, D. Serur, J. Lee, V. K. Sharma, S. V. Seshan, B. Li, M. Suthanthiran
Session Info: Concurrent Session: Biomarkers as Correlates of Human Alloimmunity and Graft Injury I (4:00 pm - 5:30 pm)
Presentation Time: Monday, May 7, 2007, 4:00 pm
Room: 2003

[304] Development of Molecular Biomarkers of Epithelial Cell-Mesenchymal Transdifferentiation, Interstitial Fibrosis and Tubular Atrophy.
Authors: T. Muthukumar, R. Wanchoo, D. Dadhania, C. Snopkowski, R. Ding, B. Li, V.K. Sharma, S. Seshan, M. Suthanthiran
Session Info: Concurrent Session: Biomarkers as Correlates of Human Alloimmunity and Graft Injury I (4:00 pm - 5:30 pm)
Presentation Time: Monday, May 7, 2007, 4:10 pm
Room: 2003

[1717] Intragraft RNA Expression of FOXP3 Versus Proinflammatory Cytokines in Tolerant Recipients of HLA Mismatched Renal Allografts.
Authors: Tatsuo Kawai, Manikkam Suthanthiran, Vijay Sharma, Ruchuang Ding, Megan Sykes, Robert B. Colvin, A. Benedict Cosimi, David H. Sachs
Session Info: Poster Session: Late-Breaking Abstracts: Poster Session (12:45 pm - 2:00 pm)
Presentation Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 12:45 pm
Room: Exhibit Hall, Lobby Level, Moscone West Convention Center

[1668] Chronic Rejection of Human Allograft Is Distinguished by a Deficiency in FoxP3+ T Regulatory Cells.
Authors: T. Muthukumar, D. Dadhania, C. Snopkowski, R. Ding, B. Li, V.K. Sharma, S. Seshan, M. Suthanthiran
Session Info: Poster Session: Proteomics/Genomics Pharmacogenetics (12:45 pm - 2:00 pm)
Presentation Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 12:45 pm
Room: Exhibit Hall, Lobby Level, Moscone West Convention Center

[509] First Demonstration of the Association between FOXP3 and TGF-ß1 in Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients.
Authors: Mara Medeiros, Vijay Sharma, Ruchuang Ding, Saul Valverde, Ana Maria Hernandez, Pilar Garcia, Yolanda Fuentes, Manikkam Suthanthiran
Session Info: Concurrent Session: Biomarkers as Correlates of Human Alloimmunity and Graft Injury II (4:00 pm - 5:30 pm)
Presentation Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 5:20 pm
Room: 2003