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Dendritic polyglycerol sulfate attenuates murine graft-versus-host disease

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Abstract

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a severe immune reaction commonly occurring after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The outcome of patients who do not respond to the currently used immunosuppressive drugs is poor, thus there is an urgent need for the evaluation of new therapies. Heparin has a well-known anti-inflammatory effect and heparin analogues with a low anticoagulant effect are interesting candidates as new anti-inflammatory drugs. We explored the therapeutic potential of dendritic polyglycerol sulfates (dPGS), a novel class of heparin derivatives, on murine acute GvHD in vivo. The therapeutic effect of dPGS on murine GvHD was more intense after intravenous application compared to subcutaneous injection. An increased survival rate and improved clinical scores were observed in mice treated with 5 mg/kg once a week. In these animals, there was a reduction in the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which are the main effectors of GvHD. In addition, dPGS treatment decreased the number of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)-producing T cells. Increasing the dose of dPGS reversed the positive effect on survival as well as the clinical score, which indicates a small therapeutic range. Here, we report for the first time that dPGS have a significant immunosuppressive in vivo effect in a mouse model of severe acute GvHD. Therefore, we propose to study dPGS as promising candidates for the development of potential new drugs in the treatment of steroid-refractory GvHD patients first in larger animals and later in humans.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ulrike Berntsch and Susanne Kolb for technical assistance.

Authorship contributions

Holger Budde, Gerald Wulf, and Tobias J. Legler conceived and designed the experiments. Holger Budde wrote the paper. Holger Budde, Marie-Sophie Sorns, Pia Welker, Kai Licha, Hendrik Wolff, Joachim Riggert, and Tobias J. Legler carried out or analyzed the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Holger Budde, Marie-Sophie Sorns, Joachim Riggert & Tobias J. Legler

  2. mivenion GmbH, Robert-Koch-Platz 4, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Pia Welker & Kai Licha

  3. Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Hendrik Wolff

  4. Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Gerald Wulf

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  1. Holger Budde
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  2. Marie-Sophie Sorns
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  3. Pia Welker
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  4. Kai Licha
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  7. Gerald Wulf
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  8. Tobias J. Legler
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Correspondence to Holger Budde.

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Budde, H., Sorns, MS., Welker, P. et al. Dendritic polyglycerol sulfate attenuates murine graft-versus-host disease. Ann Hematol 95, 465–472 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-015-2565-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-015-2565-y

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