NU 2023-199
INVENTORS
Ankit Bharat*
BACKGROUND
Lung transplants can often lead to dreaded complications shortly after transplantation. For example, the potentially lethal syndrome Primary Graft Dysfunction (PGD) manifests in more than 50% of recipients within the initial 72 hours after implantation and can lead to both short- and long-term lethality. Unfortunately, there is a lack of predictive clinical biomarkers and targeted therapies for PGD. Northwestern researchers have developed a novel method for predicting PGD in lung transplant patients within 2 hours following transplantation. Utilizing human tissue from patients having recently undergone lung transplant, allograft biopsy and protein quantification showed that PGD is correlated to the activation of complement proteins that are part of the immune response. This detection can identify patients who are at higher risk of PGD and may provide an avenue for the development of a therapeutic to prevent development of PGD through the inhibition of complement proteins.
IP STATUS
A Provisional patent application has been filed.