A certain type of immune system cell is necessary for lung transplants to be successful.
It was known that memory T cells cause transplant rejection for other types of organ transplants, and immune-suppressing medicines are now given to knock out the cells to prevent the immune system from attacking the transplant.
But it seems this might not be the right strategy for lung transplants. Researchers have found that instead of preventing transplant rejection, mice who lacked T cells were more likely to reject a transplanted lung.
Read more at Washington University