Tag Archives: Stem cells

MSCs help us Reject Rejection

mesenchymal_stem_cell 2The light of rejection-free, healthy kidney transplants has entered the tunnel, and should arrive at our end in just three to five years.

Last month a senior researcher from the Cell and Tissue Therapies WA at the Royal Perth Hospital (CTTWA) presented a paper to the Renal Society of Australia‘s annual conference that has profound implications for us BigDers.  It detailed their early clinical trial successes in using Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) to stop kidney transplant rejection and to repair acute kidney injury (among many other medical wonders). (more…)

Every donor kidney a perfect match: no more transplant drugs!

Stem CellsWe all hate rejection.  It hurts us somewhere deep inside.  And those of us who’ve had an organ transplant hate it most of all.  Because the only way to make all that pain go away is by taking a hearty (sometimes heroic) dose of anti-rejection drugs.

Rejection is driven by our body’s immune system, a collection of cells (T cells) that recognise and destroy foreign cells: germs, poisons, other bits that find their way into us. All cells have proteins called antigens on their surface.  As soon as these antigens enter our body, the immune system recognises that they are not from our body and attacks them.

When we receive an organ transplant, our immune system (more…)