Transplantation tolerance: lessons from experimental rodent models

CI Kingsley, SN Nadig, KJ Wood - Transplant International, 2007 - Wiley Online Library
CI Kingsley, SN Nadig, KJ Wood
Transplant International, 2007Wiley Online Library
Immunological tolerance or functional unresponsiveness to a transplant is arguably the only
approach that is likely to provide long‐term graft survival without the problems associated
with life‐long global immunosuppression. Over the past 50 years, rodent models have
become an invaluable tool for elucidating the mechanisms of tolerance to alloantigens.
Importantly, rodent models can be adapted to ensure that they reflect more accurately the
immune status of human transplant recipients. More recently, the development of genetically …
Summary
Immunological tolerance or functional unresponsiveness to a transplant is arguably the only approach that is likely to provide long‐term graft survival without the problems associated with life‐long global immunosuppression. Over the past 50 years, rodent models have become an invaluable tool for elucidating the mechanisms of tolerance to alloantigens. Importantly, rodent models can be adapted to ensure that they reflect more accurately the immune status of human transplant recipients. More recently, the development of genetically modified mice has enabled specific insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that play a key role in both the induction and maintenance of tolerance to be obtained and more complex questions to be addressed. This review highlights strategies designed to induce alloantigen specific immunological unresponsiveness leading to transplantation tolerance that have been developed through the use of experimental models.
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