The issue of immunology in stem cell therapies: a pharmaceutical perspective

Free to access editorial from the Special Focus Issue of Regenerative Medicine by Richard Haworth and Michaela Sharpe “...immunological privilege does not mean lack of immune response..." As increasing numbers of stem cell therapies are entering clinical trials, the issue of the immunological consequences of these therapies has not kept pace with our knowledge of their cell biology. In simple terms, the immunological questions for stem cell derived therapies can be divided into three categories; the properties of the administered cells, the relative immune tolerance of the site of administration and the immune status of the host or patient. By...