Autoimmune Reactivity in Graft Injury: Player or Bystander?

Organ transplantation is the only viable treatment for several end-stage organ failures. However chronic rejection prevents long-term graft survival. Traditionally this rejection was attributed to the development of alloimmunity in transplant patients. However recent evidence suggests that autoimmunity plays a larger role in chronic rejection of certain organ transplants, than alloimmunity. In this review we will focus on the history of autoimmunity in solid-organ transplantation and at look the Collagen Type V, K-α-tubulin, Vimentin, Cardiac myosin and Heat Shock Proteins as classical examples of auto-antigens in organ transplantation. We will also look at some of the recent reports looking at the mechanisms of autoimmunity and try to provide answers to some of the age-old questions in autoimmunity.