Pig-to-human xenotransplantation: how close to the clinic?

Transplantation of organs and tissues is a life-changing and often life-saving medical procedure that is limited only by the availability of donors. The possibility of using pigs as an alternative donor source has been actively pursued for more than three decades. Until recently, however, the results from preclinical pig-to-nonhuman primate studies have not warranted moving to clinical trials.

What has changed is the capacity to introduce multiple, precise modifications into the pig genome, such that porcine cells can be hidden from the human immune system and/or made more resistant to rejection. Survival in preclinical models, once restricted to days, is now measured in months or even years. This overview will summarise the state of play in xenotransplantation research and the prospects for clinical application.

Speaker bio:

Professor Peter Cowan is Scientist Director of the Immunology Research Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, and a Past President of the International Xenotransplantation Association. 

His major research interests are pig-to-human xenotransplantation and the immunobiology of transplantation, in particular the role of complement, coagulation and regulated cell death pathways in transplant-associated inflammation and injury. His group has produced genetically modified mice and novel reagents that have been tested in models of kidney, heart and liver ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplantation.

He leads a long-standing national collaborative group that generates knockout and transgenic pigs and uses them as donors in the xenotransplantation of kidneys and pancreatic islets into nonhuman primates.