Key to stem cell transplant success is tricking immune system

Friday 9 September 2005

Tricking the bodys immune system into ignoring stem cells will be
the key to successful stem cell transplants, according to Professor
Maggie Dallman , Imperial College London, speaking today at the BA
Festival of Science.

Professor Dallman is investigating how to trick the body into
producing regulatory cells, which prevent the bodys immune system
from attacking its own molecules, at the site of a stem cell
transplant. If they were present when stem cells were introduced
into the body, the regulatory cells would inhibit the bodys natural
response to 'foreign' cells, meaning the stem cells would be
accepted.

Drug therapies can prevent traditional organ grafts from being
destroyed in the short term but organ transplants typically fail
after a number of years as the bodys immune system rejects the new
tissue. Scientists are hopeful that harnessing regulatory cells
would prevent stem cell transplants from facing similar rejection.

Professor Dallman, from Imperials department of Cell and Molecular
Biology, explains: "Stem cell transplants will offer fantastic
possibilities for helping people with any disease where there is
tissue damage or degeneration. It is vital to work out how to
prevent these transplants from being rejected.

"We know from over 50 years of experience with transplants that a
major issue affecting the success of such procedures is the immune
systems rejection of grafted tissue. Our recent experiments suggest
that we could use regulatory cells to stop the immune system
responding to foreign transplants, whilst leaving the rest of the
immune system intact", she adds.

Cloning stem cells using a patient's own cells is another option for
preventing the rejection of stem cell transplants. This would have a
low risk of rejection because cloned cells would contain the
patients own DNA. However, the cost and intricate nature of this
procedure means that it may not prove to be a practical option for
widespread use, according to Professor Dallman.

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