Objectives: If many specialised books have exhaustively reported the immune mechanisms occurring after transplantation, most of them are only understandable with a strong biological background. The website aims to be an attractive resource for immunology newbies, nevertheless accurately describing the alloreactivity processes. The current version focuses on solid organ transplantation, although an extension for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is currently being developed.
Methods: The website is organised around three panoramas representing the main periods of the transplantation: pre-transplantation, per-transplantation, and post-transplantation times. Each of those three panoramas can be tackled from two different perspectives thanks to a swich button, highlighting either the actors or the mechanisms involved. All of them can be developed by a click for an interactive and enjoyable experience.
Results: In total, nearly 20 actors of the innate and adaptative immunology are represented – such as the complement system, the antigen presenting cells, the dendritic cells, the NK cells, the T-lymphocytes, the HLA molecules, the KIR receptors, the lymph nodes… – as well as more than 15 key mechanisms – like the direct and indirect alloreactivities, the cross-presentation, the lymphocytes’ activation, the NK activation through the “missing self”, the acute and chronic rejection... The appeal relies on the conciseness of the explanations, entirely focused on the transplantation. The content of each page can be downloaded in a readable format.
Conclusion: This website aims to provide insights on the actors and mechanisms involved in the alloreactivity occurring after transplantation. It has been designed to be understandable without any strong skill in immunology and is available on desktops as well on smartphones to reach a broad audience, from undergraduate students in biology to the medical and paramedical staff and patients aiming to better understand the journey of transplantation.
With the support of Sanofi