Microchimerism, macrochimerism, and tolerance

Microchimerism, dendritic cell progenitors and transplantation tolerance.

The recent discovery of multilineage donor leukocyte microchimerism in allograft recipients up to three decades after organ transplantation implies the migration and survival of donor stem cells within the host. It has been postulated that in chimeric graft recipients, reciprocal modulation of immune responsiveness between donor and recipient leukocytes may lead, eventually, to the induction of...

Transplantation tolerance, microchimerism, and the two-way paradigm.

In discussing the two-signal concept of selflnonself discrimination. Melvin Cohn extolled the virtues of immunological hypotheses that accommodate all relevant observations and therefore enunciate principles. as opposed to concise "small theories" that explain only a few facts [I]. Cohn's points are exemplified by transplantation. which developed throughout much of its modern history in the abs...

Microchimerism: fears and hopes.

For those who are not used yet to this rather recent concept, microchimerism refers to the presence of very low numbers of allogeneic cells in an individual. Most interest in this phenomenon has been raised after the demonstration by the group of Diana Bianchi, a researcher working previously on prenatal diagnosis, that fetal cells – present in the peripheral blood of women during pregnancy – m...

Fetal microchimerism and cancer.

The persistence of fetal stem cells with multilineage potential in women who have been pregnant, a phenomenon known as fetal microchimerism, is emerging as a potential contributing factor in certain diseases, including cancer. For example, fetal microchimerism has been implicated in autoimmune disease, wound healing, and cancer. Studies of this phenomenon may provide a novel perspective on canc...

Systemic Microchimerism