title: Pluripotent stem cells and tolerance induction in organ transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ongoing research is constantly looking for means to modulate the immune system for long-lasting engraftment of pluripotent stem cells (PSC) during stem cell-based therapies. This study reviews data on in-vitro and in-vivo immunogenicity of embryonic and induced-PSC and describes how their immunological properties can be harnessed for tolerance induction in organ transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although PSC display immunomodulatory properties in vitro, they are capable of eliciting an immune response that leads to cell rejection when transplanted into immune-competent recipients. Nevertheless, long-term acceptance of PSC-derived cells/tissues in an allogeneic environment can be achieved using minimal host conditioning. Protocols for differentiating PSC towards haematopoietic stem cells, thymic epithelial precursors, dendritic cells, regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells are being developed, suggesting the possibility to use PSC-derived immunomodulatory cells to induce tolerance to a solid organ transplant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PSC and/or their derivatives possess unique immunological properties that allow for acceptance of PSC-derived tissue with minimal host conditioning. Investigators involved either in regenerative or in transplant medicine must join their efforts with the ultimate aim of using PSC as a source of donor-specific cells that would create a protolerogenic environment to achieve tolerance in solid organ transplantation.
authors.affiliation: aCentro Anna Maria Astori, Parco Scientifico Tecnologico Kilometro Rosso, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Bergamo bCentro Ricerche di Medicina Rigenerativa-Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia cCentro Ricerche Trapianti 'Chiara Cucchi de Alessandri e Gilberto Crespi', IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Bergamo, Italy dFondazione IRCCS-Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Imberti
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casiraghi
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation