Prof. Tom Vanden Berghe and Prof. Koen Augustyns have received a 1.7M euro FWO-SBO grant to pave the way for a ferroptosis spin-off company. Together with a KULeuven team of transplantation surgeons, they will introduce ferroptosis inhibitors into the clinical practice of organ transplantation.
Oxidative stress can kill cells in an iron-dependent way. This type of cell injury is known as ferroptosis. Currently, the success of organ transplantation is hampered by a shortage of suitable organ grafts and the adverse effects of ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). IRI, or reoxygenation injury, is the tissue damage caused when blood supply returns to tissue after a period of lack of oxygen supply.
Inflammation and cell death in the transplanted organ, caused by the activation of the immune system, leads to primary graft dysfunction. Transplant recipients that suffer from severe primary graft dysfunction have an increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Our researchers will use a novel ferroptosis inhibitor to block ischemia reperfusion injury during preservation of the organ grafts. This novel organ perfusion strategy was developed to increase the number of available grafts for patients.
Thank you to the FWO for funding this work!