AUTHOR=Ophir Eran , Reisner Yair 

TITLE=The use of donor-derived veto cells in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2012

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2012.00093

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2012.00093

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=The induction of immune tolerance by specific agents, as opposed to general immune suppression, is a most desirable goal in transplantation biology. One approach to attain this goal is afforded by the use of donor-derived cells endowed with veto activity, which is the ability of a cell to specifically suppress only T cells directed against its antigens. A megadose of purified veto CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells is already used in patients to allow hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) across major genetic barriers, while avoiding severe GVHD.  However, allowing engraftment of such T cell depleted HSCT under safer reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) protocols still remains a challenge. Therefore, combining megadose of CD34+ HSCT with other GVHD-depleted veto cells could enable facilitation of engraftment of HSCT under RIC without the adverse complication of GVHD. This approach might provide a safer modality for enabling engraftment of HSCT, enabling its application in elderly patients who cannot tolerate intensive protocols and to a variety of patients with non-malignant disorders, associated with longer life expectancy, in whom the use of a high risk conditioning cannot be considered.