research
Regulatory T cells and immune tolerance after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
- Publication date
- 3 March 2010
- Publisher
- The story of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) begins after the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It was observed that fallout radiation
caused dose-dependent depression of hematopoiesis 1. Research first focused on how to protect
the hematopoietic system from irradiation injury and it was discovered that infusion of spleen
or marrow cells from a healthy donor restored hematopoiesis through the establishment of
hematopoietic donor chimerism in an irradiated recipient 2. This finding led to the realization
that it might also be applied to treat hematological malignancies. In 1957, a new approach to
human cancer treatment was reported: radiation and chemotherapy followed by the intravenous
infusion of healthy donor bone marrow 3,4. However, all the early clinic