Despite enormous advances in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Thus, there is a need for novel CVD therapeutics. CVD appears to be a custom-made scenario for applying stem cell therapy. Although human pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into cardiomyocytes to regenerate injured heart tissue and restore post-myocardial infarction cardiac function, several obstacles need to be overcome before cell therapy can be applied in CVD patients. One of these major hurdles is the immunological barrier. Currently, long-term immunosuppressant treatment is necessary for allogenic stem cell or organ transplantation to prevent rejection. However, the long-term use of immunosuppressants may cause serious adverse events such as nephrotoxicity, severe infections and malignancy. Thus, overcoming this immunological hurdle is crucial for the clinical application of stem cell therapy in cardiac regeneration. This review summarizes the recent advances and challenges of immunogenicity in relation to stem cell therapy.
Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Cell therapy; Major histocompatibility complex; Pluripotent stem cells; Transplant rejection.