AUTHOR=Guo Kequan, Ikehara Susumu, Meng Xu TITLE=Mesenchymal stem cells for inducing tolerance in organ transplantation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=2 YEAR=2014 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2014.00008 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2014.00008 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=Organ transplantation is useful for treating the end stage of organ failure. The induction of tolerance to the transplanted organ is essential for its long-term survival. Immunologic tolerance can be induced by immunosuppressive agents and mixed chimerism. Mixed chimerism is a state in which both recipient-and donor-derived blood cells remain in the hematopoietic system after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells have been transplanted. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and immune cells such as dendritic cells and T-reg cells play an important role in the induction of tolerance. MSCs secrete cytokines, which modulate the immune response. In particular, they upregulate T-reg cell function and thereby induce tolerance. Intra-bone marrow-bone marrow transplantation recruits both donor-derived HSCs and MSCs, inducing persistent donor-specific tolerance without the use of immunosuppressants. In this review, we summarize the use of MSCs to induce tolerance in organ transplantation.