title: Mesenchymal stem cells: immune evasive, not immune privileged.
abstract: The diverse immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) may be exploited for treatment of a multitude of inflammatory conditions. MSCs have long been reported to be hypoimmunogenic or 'immune privileged'; this property is thought to enable MSC transplantation across major histocompatibility barriers and the creation of off-the-shelf therapies consisting of MSCs grown in culture. However, recent studies describing generation of antibodies against and immune rejection of allogeneic donor MSCs suggest that MSCs may not actually be immune privileged. Nevertheless, whether rejection of donor MSCs influences the efficacy of allogeneic MSC therapies is not known, and no definitive clinical advantage of autologous MSCs over allogeneic MSCs has been demonstrated to date. Although MSCs may exert therapeutic function through a brief 'hit and run' mechanism, protecting MSCs from immune detection and prolonging their persistence in vivo may improve clinical outcomes and prevent patient sensitization toward donor antigens.
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ankrum
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Joon Faii
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Karp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous