Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint
Xenotransplantation, which involves the transplantation of organs, tissues, or cells from animals into humans, is emerging as a promising solution to mitigate the global shortage of human donor organs. Nonetheless, its clinical application is constrained by significant immunological and physiologica...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Korean Society for Transplantation
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Clinical Transplantation and Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ctrjournal.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.4285/ctr.24.0065 |
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| author | Jaecheon Ko Geon Lee Hyun Woo Kim Minji Kang Hyun Je Kim Chung-Gyu Park |
| author_facet | Jaecheon Ko Geon Lee Hyun Woo Kim Minji Kang Hyun Je Kim Chung-Gyu Park |
| author_sort | Jaecheon Ko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Xenotransplantation, which involves the transplantation of organs, tissues, or cells from animals into humans, is emerging as a promising solution to mitigate the global shortage of human donor organs. Nonetheless, its clinical application is constrained by significant immunological and physiological barriers—most notably, the rapid rejection of xenografts by both the innate and adaptive immune systems. This review discusses critical immunological challenges such as natural antibodies, complement activation, coagulation dysregulation, and cellular immune responses mediated by T cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells. Advances in genetic engineering—such as the development of multi-knockout pigs that lack major xenoantigens and the transgenic expression of human regulatory proteins—have considerably prolonged xenograft survival in preclinical models. Moreover, approaches such as mixed hematopoietic chimerism, thymic transplantation, cell-based therapies, and synthetic particle-based delivery hold promise for inducing immune tolerance. Innovations in pharmacological immunosuppression and bioengineering, including islet encapsulation and thrombo-regulatory modifications, further enhance graft viability. While recent breakthroughs, including pig-to-human transplants, demonstrate considerable clinical potential, challenges remain in achieving long-term graft survival. This review summarizes current progress in xenotransplantation research and outlines future directions to overcome cross-species immune barriers, bringing the field closer to widespread clinical application. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-41de1ec783fd432289c06278e91f7b2a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 3022-6783 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | The Korean Society for Transplantation |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clinical Transplantation and Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-41de1ec783fd432289c06278e91f7b2a2025-08-20T03:27:46ZengThe Korean Society for TransplantationClinical Transplantation and Research3022-67832025-06-013929711510.4285/ctr.24.0065ctr.24.0065Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpointJaecheon Ko0Geon Lee1Hyun Woo Kim2Minji Kang3Hyun Je Kim4Chung-Gyu Park5Transplantation Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaTransplantation Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University Graduate School, Seoul, KoreaTransplantation Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaTransplantation Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaXenotransplantation, which involves the transplantation of organs, tissues, or cells from animals into humans, is emerging as a promising solution to mitigate the global shortage of human donor organs. Nonetheless, its clinical application is constrained by significant immunological and physiological barriers—most notably, the rapid rejection of xenografts by both the innate and adaptive immune systems. This review discusses critical immunological challenges such as natural antibodies, complement activation, coagulation dysregulation, and cellular immune responses mediated by T cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells. Advances in genetic engineering—such as the development of multi-knockout pigs that lack major xenoantigens and the transgenic expression of human regulatory proteins—have considerably prolonged xenograft survival in preclinical models. Moreover, approaches such as mixed hematopoietic chimerism, thymic transplantation, cell-based therapies, and synthetic particle-based delivery hold promise for inducing immune tolerance. Innovations in pharmacological immunosuppression and bioengineering, including islet encapsulation and thrombo-regulatory modifications, further enhance graft viability. While recent breakthroughs, including pig-to-human transplants, demonstrate considerable clinical potential, challenges remain in achieving long-term graft survival. This review summarizes current progress in xenotransplantation research and outlines future directions to overcome cross-species immune barriers, bringing the field closer to widespread clinical application.https://www.ctrjournal.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.4285/ctr.24.0065xenotransplantationimmune barriersgenetic engineeringorgan transplantationimmune tolerance |
| spellingShingle | Jaecheon Ko Geon Lee Hyun Woo Kim Minji Kang Hyun Je Kim Chung-Gyu Park Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint Clinical Transplantation and Research xenotransplantation immune barriers genetic engineering organ transplantation immune tolerance |
| title | Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| title_full | Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| title_fullStr | Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| title_full_unstemmed | Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| title_short | Current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| title_sort | current status of xenotransplantation from an immunobiological standpoint |
| topic | xenotransplantation immune barriers genetic engineering organ transplantation immune tolerance |
| url | https://www.ctrjournal.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.4285/ctr.24.0065 |
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