Transplantation techniques

Cassel, J. C., Duconseitle, E., Jeltsch, H. and Witt, B. (1997) The fimbria-fomix/cingular bundle pathways a review of neurochemical and behavioural approaches using lesions and transplantation techniques. Prog. Neurobiol. 51, 663-716. 

This chapter will review the current state of the art in this arena. We first discuss the current methods for treating liver failure, including cell transplant techniques. The primary physical characteristics of successful implantable and extracorporeal devices will be described. We will then cover the work of Matsushita et al. that meets most of the requirements for a successful device along with improvements that will result from the use of hydrophilic-grafted polyurethanes. 

The treatment of Uver disease has improved greatly with the development of transplantation techniques including surgical methods and suppression of the immune response. However, few liver diseases are curable, and surgical replacement is expensive and problematic from the perspectives of both the live donor and the recipient. Because the demand for transplantable livers far outstrips availability, alternative liver therapies are critical. 

Nuclear transplantation technique. The nucleus of an unfertilized egg is mechanically removed with a micropipette (.left), and a nucleus from a blastula cell is removed and microinjected into the enucleated egg. 

It should be realized, however, that therapeutic interference with only one cell type may not be enough to treat liver cirrhosis, because all hepatic cell types contribute to some extent to the development of the disease. Therefore, a combination of drug-targeting preparations to stellate cells, KC, endothelial cells, and/ or hepatocytes might improve the pharmacological therapies and compete with the liver transplantation technique. In addition to therapeutic applications, modified albumins may also be used for diagnostic purposes (an issue that will be addressed in section VI.C.4). 

A transplantation technique should be developed to enable proper alignment of the graft tissue, high seeding rate of the transplanted cells, and minimal damage to the host tissue. 

The best transplantation technique for gaseous analytes, or those analytes which can be converted to a gaseous species, is gas diffusion. 

There is no doubt that insulin injections prolong the life of diabetics, but only the presence of a fully functioning pancreas can allow a diabetic to live a life free of the complications noted here. At present, pancreas transplants do not have a good track record. Only about 50% of the transplants are functioning after one year. It is hoped that improved transplantation techniques will be developed so that diabetics can live a normal life span, free of debilitating disease. 

Celis, J. E., Graessmann, A., and Loyter, A. (1986). Microinjection and Organelle Transplantation Techniques. Methods and Applications. Academic Press, London. 

Grosjean H, Kubli E (1986) Functional aspects of tRNAs microinjected into Xenopus laevis oocytes results and perspectives. In Celis JE, Graessmann A, Loyter A (eds) Microinjection and organelle transplantation techniques. Academic, London, p 301... 

This technique is already in commercial use in Spain and Greece and is showing very good results. Advanced field trials are underway in the cultivation of tomatoes, where the substitution of the traditional transplanting technique by direct sowing reduces production costs without reducing the quantity or the... 

Maynard-Smith has summarized some results from serial transplantation technique which seem to argue against the view that clonal aging of mitotic cells is an important cause of aging. Nevertheless, limited life-span of fibroblasts has now been observed sufficiently often in different laboratories for it to be regarded as a phenomenon that calls for an explanation, whether or not aging of individuals can be attributed directly to the limited life-span of stem lines. 

The operative cardiac transplant technique is nearly the same as described above adapted to the underlying congenital disease. In hypoplastic left heart syndrome hypothermic circulatory arrest is necessary to enable the aortic anastomosis and reconstruction of the aortic arch using donor tissue. 

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