Immunogenetics of xenotransplantation

Int J Immunogenet. 2021 Apr;48(2):120-134. doi: 10.1111/iji.12526. Epub 2021 Jan 7.

Abstract

Xenotransplantation may become the highly desired solution to close the gap between the availability of donated organs and number of patients on the waiting list. In recent years, enormous progress has been made in the development of genetically engineered donor pigs. The introduced genetic modifications showed to be efficient in prolonging xenograft survival. In this review, we focus on the type of immune responses that may target xeno-organs after transplantation and promising immunogenetic modifications that show a beneficial effect in ameliorating or eliminating harmful xenogeneic immune responses. Increasing histocompatibility of xenografts by eliminating genetic discrepancies between species will pave their way into clinical application.

Keywords: gene therapy; histocompatibility; immunogenetics; immunology; organ bioengineering; xenotransplantation.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adaptive Immunity
  • Animals
  • Blood Coagulation
  • Complement Activation
  • Gene Editing
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Genetic Engineering
  • Graft Rejection / prevention & control
  • HLA Antigens / immunology
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Humoral
  • Immunity, Innate
  • Species Specificity
  • Swine / genetics
  • Swine / immunology*
  • Transplantation Immunology*
  • Transplantation, Heterologous*

Substances

  • HLA Antigens
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I
  • swine leukocyte antigen