Coating Human Pancreatic Islets With CD4+CD25highCD127− Regulatory T Cells as a Novel Approach for the Local Immunoprotection

Abstract

We demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to bind immune regulatory cells to target cells with preservation of their viability and function and protective activity against immune attack. If successfully tested in an animal model, local delivery of immunoprotective Tregs on the surface of transplanted pancreatic islets may be an alternative or improvement to the currently used immunosuppression.