Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Oct;102(10):1603-1613.
doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000002239.

State of the Art: Role of the Dendritic Cell in Induction of Allograft Tolerance

Sarah J Rosen  1 , Paul E Harris  2 , Mark A Hardy  1
Affiliations
Review

State of the Art: Role of the Dendritic Cell in Induction of Allograft Tolerance

Sarah J Rosen et al. Transplantation. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Despite decades of research, the induction and maintenance of long-term allograft tolerance without immunosuppression remains an elusive goal in the field of solid organ and cell transplantation. Immunosuppressive medications frequently prevent or minimize acute cellular rejection but have failed to halt antidonor antibody production and chronic organ rejection. Past efforts aimed at promoting lasting allograft tolerance have focused primarily on peripheral T-cell depletion, augmentation of regulatory T cells, or induction via simultaneous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and facilitation of donor chimerism. So far, none of these methods have led to consistently safe, feasible and long lasting donor organ acceptance. Over the course of the past 4 decades, the study of a unique population of antigen-presenting cells known as dendritic cells has shown promise for breaking new ground in achieving indefinite allograft survival without immunosuppression and its associated adverse effects. In this review, we discuss the discovery and early investigations of dendritic cells and chronicle some of the key studies demonstrating their role in transplantation, particularly in indirect allorecognition, the immunologic pathway thought to drive chronic rejection and perhaps tolerance induction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline represen;ng changes in the understanding of visceral allograO immunogenicity. (Tx, transplant; DC, dendri;c cell)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schema;c representa;on of myeloid- (bone marrow) and monocyte-derived dendri;c cell development, including a simplified comparison of surface markers and other characteris;cs present at different stages of matura;on. (imDC, immature dendri;c cell; mDC, mature dendri;c cell; MHC, major histocompa;bility complex; CD, cluster of differen;a;on; IL, interleukin
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schema;c representa;on of the post-transplant immunologic response, from both the direct and indirect pathways of allorecogni;on. (DC, dendri;c cell; Ag, an;gen; MHC, major histocompatability complex; Th1, Type 1 T helper cell; Th2, Tupe 2 T helper cell)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Flow chart comparing the basic func;ons of mature versus immature dendri;c cells and their contribu;ons to immunologic s;mula;on versus tolerance. (DC, dendri;c cell)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Medawar PB. The behaviour and fate of skin autografts and skin homografts in rabbits: A report to the War Wounds Committee of the Medical Research Council. J Anat. 1944;78(Pt 5):176–199. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Owen RD. IMMUNOGENETIC CONSEQUENCES OF VASCULAR ANASTOMOSES BETWEEN BOVINE TWINS. Science. 1945;102(2651):400–401. - PubMed
    1. Burnet FM. The Clonal Selection of Acquired Immunity. New York: Cambridge University; 1959.
    1. Snell GD. The genetics of transplantation. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1957;69(4):555–560. - PubMed
    1. Elkins WL, Guttmann RD. Pathogenesis of a local graft versus host reaction: immunogenicity of circulating host leukocytes. Science. 1968;159(3820):1250–1251. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms