Experimental models of composite tissue allograft transplants.

Composite tissue allotransplantation has been recently introduced as a potential clinical treatment for complex reconstructive procedures including traumatic injuries, cancer ablative surgeries, or extensive tissue loss secondary to burns. Composite tissue allografts (CTAs) consist of heterogeneous tissues including skin, fat, muscle, nerves, lymph nodes, bone, cartilage, ligaments, and bone marrow with different antigenicities. Thus, composite tissue structure is considered to be more immunogenic than solid organ transplants. In this article, we present the experimental applications of CTA transplantation. To study the mechanisms of CTA acceptance and rejection, different experimental models, strategies, and different immunosuppressive protocols were used.