Combining Adoptive Treg Transfer with Bone Marrow Transplantation for Transplantation Tolerance

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The mixed chimerism approach is an exceptionally potent strategy for the induction of donor-specific tolerance in organ transplantation and so far the only one that was demonstrated to work in the clinical setting. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to improve chimerism induction in experimental animal models. This review summarizes the development of innovative BMT protocols using therapeutic Treg transfer for tolerance induction. RECENT FINDINGS: Treg cell therapy promotes BM engraftment in reduced conditioning protocols in both, mice and non-human primates. In mice, transfer of polyclonal recipient Tregs was sufficient to substitute cytotoxic recipient conditioning. Treg therapy prevented chronic rejection of skin and heart allografts related to tissue-specific antigen disparities, in part by promoting intragraft Treg accumulation. SUMMARY: Adoptive Treg transfer is remarkably effective in facilitating BM engraftment in reduced-intensity protocols in mice and non-human primates. Furthermore, it promotes regulatory mechanisms that prevent chronic rejection.