Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Developments in marrow and organ transplantation are mutually interactive. There have been several recent advances in stem cell transplantation: to ensure engraftment using larger doses of stem cells; to substantially reduce the incidence of graft-versus-host disease and marrow rejection using monoclonal antibodies; and to reduce toxicity of the preparative regimen through use of so-called nonmyeloablative regimens (mini-transplants). These advances may pave the way for generation of mixed hemopoietic chimerism as an aid to achieving tolerance to organ transplants. The use of short courses of T-cell-depleting antibodies, such as CD3 immunotoxin in primates and CAMPATH-1H in humans, has demonstrated that long-term graft survival may be possible without substantive long-term immunosuppressive treatment of the recipient. The demonstration in rodents that nondepleting antibodies to T cells can give rise to powerful regulatory mechanisms that maintain tolerance to grafts has initiated a major research effort in understanding how these regulatory T cells work, with the prospect of new therapeutic modalities to mimic or enhance their function.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Curr Opin Immunol

Publication Date

10/2001

Volume

13

Pages

606 - 610

Keywords

Animals, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Humans, Organ Transplantation