Research in Progress

Principal Investigator:

• Nicholas ZavaZava, M. D., Ph.D.

Project Title:

Potency of Embryonic Stem Cells to Induce Graft Tolerance

Summary:

Organ transplantation remains the only form of treatment for many patients suffering from organ failure, particularly for those suffering from end-stage renal function, liver failure, cardiac failure and diabetes. Accompanied by the chronic shortage of organs available for transplantation, rejection is a difficult problem for those who ultimately get transplanted. Our laboratory recently observed that organ rejection can be prevented by embryonic stem cells. This effect is specific to the organ donor indicating that these cells may be effective in educating the immune system of the recipient not to reject. Our laboratory seeks to achieve a state of mixed chimerism, i.e. a situation where an animal has foreign blood cells circulating in its own blood system without their rejection. Achieving this state of immunological results in protection from rejection and obviates the need for the use of immunosuppression. Here we seek to characterize embryonic stem cells immunologically thereby laying the basis for their possible use in clinical transplantation. The molecular characteristics of embryonic stem cells such as their expression of death receptors will be studied. Ultimately, the potential of embryonic stem cells will better be understood on completion of these studies.

MeSH Terms: embryonic stem cells, tolerance, organ transplantation, rejection, immunosuppression, transplantation, regenerative medicine