AUSTIN, Texas and EVANSTON, Ill., March 17, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC (PTS), a collaboration driven biotechnology company focused on the development of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-based diagnostics and therapeutics within the field of transplantation, is proud to announce that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Northwestern University, a world leader in HLA DQ antigen research.
The focus of the collaboration is to develop and test novel HLA reagents created by PTS that may be used for enhanced analysis and characterization of DQ antigens, an HLA Class II type that is increasingly gaining importance in causing rejection in transplant patients.
The research is being led by Dr. Anat Tambur, Director of the Transplant Immunology Laboratory and Comprehensive Transplant Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Dr. Rico Buchli, VP of Products and Services at PTS.
“The Tambur lab at the Comprehensive Transplant Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, is focusing on understanding the immunogenicity of HLA-DQ antigens and its role in antibody-mediated rejection in solid organ transplantation,” said Dr. Tambur. “Increasing evidence has demonstrated that DQ mismatches between transplant recipient and donor are the most common to induce de novo donor-specific antibodies (DSA). HLA-DQ antibodies are likely also the most detrimental to graft survival. Understanding the unique structural and molecular properties that make the HLA-DQ molecule so pathogenic may eventually help us better predict which mismatches will induce harmful antibody formation, and which are more permissible. This work requires availability of purified HLA-DQ and other HLA class II molecules, maintaining high physiologic accuracy of the three-dimensional structure. Our collaboration with Pure Transplant Solutions allows us to develop unique approaches to study the unique involvement of HLA-DQ in transplant immunology.”
“In the last years, we have seen a re-emerging role of HLA-DQ in transplantation medicine with increasing evidence that DQ mismatches between transplant recipient and donor are most detrimental to graft survival,” said Dr. Buchli. “Our panel of highly representative HLA-DQ alleles will help to drive novel research to prevent transplant rejection and to contribute to more insight into DSA responses and we are thrilled to be working with Dr. Tambur, a world leader in this field.”
About Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC
Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC was founded in 1999 in order to leverage the leading research in HLA protein of parent company, Pure Protein, LLC, into solutions to address a growing list of needs in organ transplantation. Visit: www.puretransplant.com
About Pure Protein, LLC
Pure Protein, LLC is a biotechnology company funded and managed by Emergent Technologies, Inc. that is focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary technologies related to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system, formed and exclusively licensed from the University of Oklahoma. Pure Protein, in conjunction with its affiliates and subsidiaries, aims to bring novel therapies and diagnostic tools to patients across a wide range of application areas spanning from therapeutic development in the fields of oncology, autoimmunity, and infectious disease, to antibody mediated rejection in transplantation.
Through its new ecommerce website, www.hlaprotein.com, Pure Protein now offers academic and commercial researchers the ability to purchase individual HLA reagents to detect, profile, and monitor allele-specific immune responses, as well as HLA peptide epitope binding services to aide in improving the design of vaccination and therapeutic targeting strategies.
News Source: Pure Transplant Solutions LLC
