Role of stem cell trafficking and donor-recipient cellular chimerism in lung transplantation

摘要

Recipient-derived progenitor cells invade an allograft and differentiate into organ specific cells. This in situ microchimerism increases with the degree of tissue injury but is under current conditions not sufficient to prevent limited long-term function of most aliografts. Because the detailed mechanisms of progenitor cell differentiation or stem cell transdifferentiation are not elucidated, much more must be known about the biology of these enigmatic cells to exploit their therapeutic capacity to injured organs.