About the Special Issue

There has been a rapid growth in stem cell research in the field of regenerative medicine largely because of the potential of stem cells to differentiate into various organ-specific cells/tissues under tissue-specific microenvironment. Studies in this field are mainly focused on understanding the pathways of regeneration of damaged tissues with the use of these cells, without being attacked by the immune system. As a large number of clinical trials are being started with stem cells as therapeutic agents, yet the issues related to the immunological consequences of these cell-based therapies have not been understood properly. Never-the-less researchers are making sincere efforts to address the immunological questions for stem cell based therapies. Various descriptions have been applied to stem cell therapies from immune privileged to immune evasive or weakly immunogenic, but many of these characteristics are ascribed from in vitro assessments and how these results translate to the clinical setting is not clear. Many factors may be important in determining the susceptibility of transplanted cells to host immune rejection; allogeneic versus autologous cells, cell culture conditions, cell maturation, level of cellular manipulation, presence of inflammation and the immunological status of the patient. besides the properties of the administered cells, the relative immune tolerance of the site of administration and the immune status of the host or patient.

In order to get more insight into these important issues related to Immunological consequences and stem cell therapy, we invite articles related to the field.

Keywords: stem cell biology, immune-mechanisms, immune-consequences, immune-rejection, Stem cell transplantation, induced pluripotent stem cells, regenerative medicine

Call for Papers