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REVIEW

Transpl Int

Volume 38 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ti.2025.14041

This article is part of the Special Issue Europeans and Xenotransplantation View all 15 articles

CONTRIBUTIONS OF EUROPEANS TO XENOTRANSPLANTATION RESEARCH: 1. PIG ORGAN XENOTRANSPLANTATION

Zuzanna Iwanczyk Zuzanna Iwanczyk 1*Krish Vasudev Krish Vasudev 1Emanuele Cozzi Emanuele Cozzi 2David KC Cooper David KC Cooper 1
  • 1 Center for Transplantation Sciences, Transplant Center, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States
  • 2 Transplantation Immunology Unit, University Hospital of Padua, Padova, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Xenotransplantation has a rich history, marked by European pioneers who laid the groundwork for many breakthroughs in the field. Pig organ xenotransplantation offers a solution to the global shortage of deceased human donor organs, whilst allowing the modification of the donor graft itself. The field has continued to garner interest, particularly with the recent advent of simpler and faster genetic-engineering technologies. This review highlights the contributions of European researchers to xenotransplantation, spanning pig kidney, heart, liver, and lung transplantation.Research has focused on (i) identifying and deleting key xenoantigens and modifying the source pig by expression of human 'protective' proteins and (ii) testing novel immunosuppressive regimens. These contributions have played key roles in advancing xenotransplantation from the laboratory to early clinical experiments.Europeans have also addressed the potential risks of xenozoonotic infections and the regulatory challenges. The research endeavours of groups in Europe are summarized. Several European researchers moved either permanently or temporarily to US institutions, and their insight and innovations are also highlighted. While we aim to recognize the significant contributions of European physicians and scientists in this article, it is not an exhaustive list of all those who have influenced the field.

    Keywords: Europeans, Organs, pig, USA, Xenotransplantation

    Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Iwanczyk, Vasudev, Cozzi and Cooper. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zuzanna Iwanczyk, Center for Transplantation Sciences, Transplant Center, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, 02129, Massachusetts, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.