Suppressive dendritic cells as a tool for controlling allograft rejection in organ transplantation: promises and difficulties.
The most important antigen-presenting cells are dendritic cells (DCs), which play a central role in the initiation of immunity and tolerance. Their immunoregulatory properties offer the potential of donor-specific control of graft rejection after organ transplantation. It has not been clarified which DC subpopulations mediate tolerance, and the use of natural DCs for therapeutic applications is therefore problematic. Suppressive DCs can be generated in vitro by treating the cells with biologic, pharmacologic, or genetic agents. Here we discuss approaches for generating inhibitory DCs and present DC-based animal models for control of allograft rejection. A prerequisite of suppressive DCs for therapeutic application in clinical transplantation is a reproducible method for their generation as well as the induction of irreversible suppressive function. Based on lessons learned from the use of DCs as tools in clinical vaccine trials in cancer, we discuss the unknown aspects and risks of DC therapy in transplantation.
Ehser
Sandra
S
Institute of Immunology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. sandra.ehser@med.uni-heidelberg.de <sandra.ehser@med.uni-heidelberg.de>
Chuang
Jing Jing
JJ
Kleist
Christian
C
Sandra-Petrescu
Flavius
F
Iancu
Mircea
M
Wang
Daohu
D
Opelz
Gerhard
G
Terness
Peter
P
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D002464:Cell Migration Inhibition / Q000276:immunology; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D051381:Rats; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*
D016572:Cyclosporine