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Stem Cell Transplant Immunology

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Book cover Cardiac Regeneration

Part of the book series: Cardiac and Vascular Biology ((Abbreviated title: Card. vasc. biol.,volume 4))

Abstract

Stem cell transplantation is quickly developing as an attractive therapeutic option for regenerating tissues injured by cardiovascular disease. From embryonic to induced pluripotent stem cells, from injection of stem cells to differentiation of cardiac cell lineages, researchers continue to push the boundaries of how stem cells can be used in treatments. The major hurdle in the way of creating effective methods for tissue regeneration is immune rejection of transplanted materials; even undifferentiated stem cells can be recognized by the transplant recipients’ immune system, limiting their survival and overall beneficial potential. Posttransplant rejection of cellular materials does not always follow the same immunological progression, and as such, different types of stem cells can be rejected through distinct immune pathways. Therefore, a strong understanding of the known mechanisms behind stem cell immunogenicity—including specific cases of embryonic and patient-specific stem cell rejection—is pivotal for researchers to develop more efficient therapeutics. The future of stem cell transplantation research lies in developing techniques that prevent immune recognition of transplanted cells or tissues and in generating ready-to-use stem cell lines that can be quickly and easily prepared for transplantation.

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Abbreviations

ES:

Embryonic stem

HLA:

Human leukocyte antigen

IFN:

Interferon

iPS:

Induced pluripotent

MHC:

Major histocompatibility complex

miHA:

Minor histocompatibility antigen

NK:

Natural killer

NT-ESC:

Nuclear transfer embryonic stem cell

TCR:

T cell receptor

SCNT:

Somatic cell nuclear transfer

SNPs:

Single nucleotide polymorphisms

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Heart Center Hamburg, Transplant and Stem Cell Immunobiology (TSI)-Lab, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Katharine K. Miller & Sonja Schrepfer

  2. Department of Surgery, Transplant and Stem Cell Immunobiology (TSI)-Lab, University California San Francisco (UCSF), 513 Parnassus Avenue, Medical Sciences S1207, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Katharine K. Miller & Sonja Schrepfer

  3. Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Katharine K. Miller & Sonja Schrepfer

  4. German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) e.V., University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Katharine K. Miller & Sonja Schrepfer

  5. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Heart Center Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Sonja Schrepfer

Authors
  1. Katharine K. Miller
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  2. Sonja Schrepfer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonja Schrepfer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keio University, School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Tokyo, Japan

    Masaki Ieda

  2. Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany

    Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Miller, K.K., Schrepfer, S. (2017). Stem Cell Transplant Immunology. In: Ieda, M., Zimmermann, WH. (eds) Cardiac Regeneration. Cardiac and Vascular Biology, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56106-6_12

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