Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (612 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Organs, tissues, or cells taken from the body for grafting into another area of the same body or into another individual.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Transplant; Grafts; Graft; Cell Transplants; Cell Transplant; Transplant, Cell; Transplants, Cell; Tissue Transplants.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Body Regions
- Narrower topics
- Allografts; Autografts; Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Grafts; Composite Tissue Allografts; Heterografts; Isografts
- See also
- Bioprosthesis
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 35,335 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Transplants” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 11,193 of them (31.7%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2010-2019 with 19,648 records.
Reviews account for 3,391 records (9.6%) and meta-analyses for 345. Randomized controlled trials number 692 (2.0%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 3,141 |
| 2000-2009 | 1,353 |
| 2010-2019 | 19,648 |
| 2020 onward | 11,193 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 3,391 | 9.6% |
| Meta-analyses | 345 | 1.0% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 692 | 2.0% |
Method: PubMed query "Transplants"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineered heart muscle allografts for heart repair in primates and humans | 2025 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 136 | cc by PMID 39880949 · DOI · PMC11903342 |
| Allogeneic CAR T Cells: An Alternative to Overcome Challenges of CAR T Cell Therapy in Glioblastoma | 2021 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 123 | cc by PMID 33746981 · DOI · PMC7966522 |
| In vivo development of immune tissue in human intestinal organoids transplanted into humanized mice | 2023 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 109 | cc by PMID 36702898 · DOI · PMC10264243 |
Engineered heart muscle allografts for heart repair in primates and humans [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Cardiomyocytes can be implanted to remuscularize the failing heart1-7.
- Closing excerpt
- Our clinical data confirmed remuscularization by EHM implantation in a patient with advanced heart failure.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (216 words)
Cardiomyocytes can be implanted to remuscularize the failing heart1-7. Challenges include sufficient cardiomyocyte retention for a sustainable therapeutic impact without intolerable side effects, such as arrhythmia and tumour growth. We investigated the hypothesis that epicardial engineered heart muscle (EHM) allografts from induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and stromal cells structurally and functionally remuscularize the chronically failing heart without limiting side effects in rhesus macaques. After confirmation of in vitro and in vivo (nude rat model) equivalence of the newly developed rhesus macaque EHM model with a previously established Good Manufacturing Practice-compatible human EHM formulation8, long-term retention (up to 6 months) and dose-dependent enhancement of the target heart wall by EHM grafts constructed from 40 to 200 million cardiomyocytes/stromal cells were demonstrated in macaques with and without myocardial infarction-induced heart failure. In the heart failure model, evidence for EHM allograft-enhanced target heart wall contractility and ejection fraction, which are measures for local and global heart support, was obtained. Histopathological and gadolinium-based perfusion magnetic resonance imaging analyses confirmed cell retention and functional vascularization. Arrhythmia and tumour growth were not observed. The obtained feasibility, safety and efficacy data provided the pivotal underpinnings for the approval of a first-in-human clinical trial on tissue-engineered heart repair. Our clinical data confirmed remuscularization by EHM implantation in a patient with advanced heart failure.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 39880949 · DOI · PMC11903342
Allogeneic CAR T Cells: An Alternative to Overcome Challenges of CAR T Cell Therapy in Glioblastoma [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has emerged as one of the major breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy in the last decade.
- Closing excerpt
- Here, we will discuss how allogeneic CAR T cells could allow for multivalent approaches and alteration of the tumor microenvironment, potentially allowing the development of next generation therapies for the treatment of patients with GBM.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (255 words)
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has emerged as one of the major breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy in the last decade. Outstanding results in hematological malignancies and encouraging pre-clinical anti-tumor activity against a wide range of solid tumors have made CAR T cells one of the most promising fields for cancer therapies. CAR T cell therapy is currently being investigated in solid tumors including glioblastoma (GBM), a tumor for which survival has only modestly improved over the past decades. CAR T cells targeting EGFRvIII, Her2, or IL-13Rα2 have been tested in GBM, but the first clinical trials have shown modest results, potentially due to GBM heterogeneity and to the presence of an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Until now, the use of autologous T cells to manufacture CAR products has been the norm, but this approach has several disadvantages regarding production time, cost, manufacturing delay and dependence on functional fitness of patient T cells, often reduced by the disease or previous therapies. Universal "off-the-shelf," or allogeneic, CAR T cells is an alternative that can potentially overcome these issues, and allow for multiple modifications and CAR combinations to target multiple tumor antigens and avoid tumor escape. Advances in genome editing tools, especially via CRISPR/Cas9, might allow overcoming the two main limitations of allogeneic CAR T cells product, i.e., graft-vs.-host disease and host allorejection. Here, we will discuss how allogeneic CAR T cells could allow for multivalent approaches and alteration of the tumor microenvironment, potentially allowing the development of next generation therapies for the treatment of patients with GBM.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 33746981 · DOI · PMC7966522
In vivo development of immune tissue in human intestinal organoids transplanted into humanized mice [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Human intestinal organoids (HIOs) derived from pluripotent stem cells provide a valuable model for investigating human intestinal organogenesis and physiology, but they lack the immune components required to fully recapitulate the complexity of human intestinal biology and diseases.
- Closing excerpt
- This in vivo HIO system with human immune cells provides a framework for future studies on infection- or allergen-driven intestinal diseases.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (141 words)
Human intestinal organoids (HIOs) derived from pluripotent stem cells provide a valuable model for investigating human intestinal organogenesis and physiology, but they lack the immune components required to fully recapitulate the complexity of human intestinal biology and diseases. To address this issue and to begin to decipher human intestinal-immune crosstalk during development, we generated HIOs containing immune cells by transplanting HIOs under the kidney capsule of mice with a humanized immune system. We found that human immune cells temporally migrate to the mucosa and form cellular aggregates that resemble human intestinal lymphoid follicles. Moreover, after microbial exposure, epithelial microfold cells are increased in number, leading to immune cell activation determined by the secretion of IgA antibodies in the HIO lumen. This in vivo HIO system with human immune cells provides a framework for future studies on infection- or allergen-driven intestinal diseases.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 36702898 · DOI · PMC10264243
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Antibody-Mediated Rejection of Solid-Organ Allografts [4]
- Research article Ross Procedure in Adults for Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons: JACC State-of-the-Art Review [5]
- Research article Outcomes of autotransplanted teeth with complete root formation: a systematic review and meta-analysis [6]
- Research article Transplantation and immunosuppression: a review of novel transplant-related immunosuppressant drugs [7]
- Research article Xenotransplantation-the current status and prospects [8]
- Research article Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: theoretical considerations and a practical approach to an unrefined diagnosis [9]
References
- Jebran AF, Seidler T, Tiburcy M, Daskalaki M, Kutschka I, Fujita B, et al.. Engineered heart muscle allografts for heart repair in primates and humans. . 2025. PMID 39880949 · DOI · PMC11903342
- Martínez Bedoya D, Dutoit V, Migliorini D. Allogeneic CAR T Cells: An Alternative to Overcome Challenges of CAR T Cell Therapy in Glioblastoma. . 2021. PMID 33746981 · DOI · PMC7966522
- Bouffi C, Wikenheiser-Brokamp KA, Chaturvedi P, Sundaram N, Goddard GR, Wunderlich M, et al.. In vivo development of immune tissue in human intestinal organoids transplanted into humanized mice. . 2023. PMID 36702898 · DOI · PMC10264243
- Loupy A, Lefaucheur C. Antibody-Mediated Rejection of Solid-Organ Allografts. N Engl J Med. 2018. PMID 30231232 · DOI
- Mazine A, El-Hamamsy I, Verma S, Peterson MD, Bonow RO, Yacoub MH, et al.. Ross Procedure in Adults for Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018. PMID 30497563 · DOI
- Chung WC, Tu YK, Lin YH, Lu HK. Outcomes of autotransplanted teeth with complete root formation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Periodontol. 2014. PMID 24393101 · DOI
- Parlakpinar H, Gunata M. Transplantation and immunosuppression: a review of novel transplant-related immunosuppressant drugs. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2021. PMID 34415233 · DOI
- Cooper DKC, Gaston R, Eckhoff D, Ladowski J, Yamamoto T, Wang L, et al.. Xenotransplantation-the current status and prospects. Br Med Bull. 2018. PMID 29228112 · DOI · PMC6487536
- Young JA, Pallas CR, Knovich MA. Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: theoretical considerations and a practical approach to an unrefined diagnosis. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2021. PMID 33875812 · DOI · PMC8338557
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.