title: Allogeneic head and body reconstruction: mouse model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is still no effective way to save a surviving healthy mind when there is critical organ failure in the body. The next frontier in CTA is allo-head and body reconstruction (AHBR), and just as animal models were key in the development of CTA, they will be crucial in establishing the procedures of AHBR for clinical translation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our approach, pioneered in mice, involves retaining the donor brain stem and transplanting the recipient head. Our preliminary data in mice support that this allows for retention of breathing and circulatory function. Critical aspects of the current protocol include avoiding cerebral ischemia through cross-circulation (donor to recipient) and retaining the donor brain stem. Successful clinical translation of AHBR will become a milestone of medical history and potentially could save millions of people.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This experimental study has confirmed a method to avoid cerebral ischemia during the surgery and solved an important part of the problem of how to accomplish long-term survival after transplantation and preservation of the donor brain stem.
authors.affiliation: Hand and Microsurgical Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China; State-Province Key Laboratories of Biomedicine-Pharmaceutics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China; Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yi-Jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Peng-Wei
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ke-Cheng
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zi-Long
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Ji-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Luther
authors.forename: Bao-Feng
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006257:Head / Q000601:surgery*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D023421:Models, Animal; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000379:methods*; D055986:Vital Signs / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Body reconstruction; Composite tissues allo-transplantation; Head transplantation