Eleanor M. Bolton

Recent advances in stem cell technology have generated enthusiasm for their potential to study and treat a diverse range of human disease. Pluripotent human stem cells for therapeutic use may, in principle, be obtained from two sources: embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which are capable of extensive self-renewal and expansion and have the potential to differentiate into any somatic tissue, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are derived from differentiated tissue such as adult skin fibroblasts and appear to have the same properties and potential, but their generation is not dependent upon a source of embryos. The likelihood that clinical transplantation of hESC- or iPSC-derived tissues from an unrelated (allogeneic) donor that express foreign human leucocyte antigens (HLA) may undergo immunological rejection requires the formulation of strategies to attenuate the host immune response to transplanted tissue. In clinical practice, individualized iPSC tissue derived from the intended recipient offers the possibility of personalized stem cell therapy in which graft rejection would not occur, but the logistics of achieving this on a large scale are problematic owing to relatively inefficient reprogramming techniques and high costs. The creation of stem cell banks comprising HLA-typed hESCs and iPSCs is a strategy that is proposed to overcome the immunological barrier by providing HLA-matched (histocompatible) tissue for the target population. Estimates have shown that a stem cell bank containing around 10 highly selected cell lines with conserved homozygous HLA haplotypes would provide matched tissue for the majority of the UK population. These simulations have practical, financial, political and ethical implications for the establishment and design of stem cell banks incorporating cell lines with HLA types that are compatible with different ethnic populations throughout the world.

The mononuclear cell infiltrate in a total of 279 human renal allograft biopsies was determined by a panel of monoclonal antibodies using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique. Two hundred and seventy-two biopsies were obtained from 83 patients randomly allocated to receive short-term cyclosporine (CsA) or conventional azathioprine and low-dose prednisolone (AP). Biopsies were obtained routinely at days 0 (control biopsies), 7, 21, 90, and 365, as well as at other times when clinically indicated. A further 7 patients on AP therapy were biopsied several years after transplantation (median: 6 years 1 month). Morphometric analysis of cryostat tissue sections using a point-counting technique has shown that the infiltration in rejecting grafts is significantly greater than in grafts with stable function. However, significant infiltration also occurs within the first week after transplantation in grafts with stable function. While this infiltrate diminishes with time, it remains significant even in grafts biopsied several years after transplantation. The infiltration with CsA treatment is significantly less than with AP therapy. The magnitude of the infiltrate therefore varies with time, graft status, and immunosuppression. In contrast the phenotypic composition of the infiltrate remains relatively constant in all biopsies after transplantation with T lymphocytes (CD3+), accounting for approximately 35% of infiltrating cells and CD8+ cells more common than CD4+. Monocytes and macrophages account for most of the remainder of the infiltrate.