Stem Cells and Transplants

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Spleen cells and transplants

Breakthroughs in cell transplant technology are occurring all the time these days. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 14527 (2008) carried a bit of research where donor spleen cells were first treated with a “chemical crosslinker” to make them able to withstand the onslaught of the immune attack attempting to destroy them.

Then spleen cells given before and after the islet cells that were implanted in mice were noted to begin down-regulation of the host effector T cells that induced long term tolerance to the transplants.

Islet Cell grafted into diabetic mice produced insulin for a long time (mouse time) and if the grafts began to fail new cells could be replaced without additional spleen cell treatment as long as the cells came from the same original donor.

Timing and size of the fixed-cell injection was everything. Now if we can get a similar protocol for humans, it’s your time.