# Organ Transplantation: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Prospects

**Authors:** Xinqiang Li, Ruidong Ding, Jinzhen Cai

PMC · DOI: 10.1002/mco2.70567 · MedComm · 2026-01-08

## TL;DR

This review discusses recent advancements in organ transplantation, including new preservation techniques, immune modulation strategies, and AI-driven tools to improve long-term outcomes and address organ shortages.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of current and emerging technologies in organ transplantation, emphasizing precision medicine and immune education.

## Key findings

- Hypothermic and normothermic machine perfusion improve graft assessment and preservation.
- Precision immunomodulation strategies like regulatory T-cell therapy and gene-edited cells are advancing immune tolerance.
- AI enhances donor-recipient matching and personalized immunosuppressive management.

## Abstract

Organ transplantation has progressed from a life‐saving surgical intervention to a multidisciplinary field integrating immunology, bioengineering, and data science. Despite major advances in donor management, perioperative care, and immunosuppression, long‐term graft survival remains limited due to chronic rejection, infection, and organ scarcity. Recent breakthroughs in organ preservation, particularly in hypothermic and normothermic machine perfusion, have enabled real‐time graft assessment, metabolic reconditioning, and localized therapeutic delivery. Emerging precision immunomodulation strategies, including regulatory T‐cell therapy, gene‐edited cellular platforms, tolerogenic dendritic cells, and biomarker‐guided minimization, are reshaping alloimmune control toward durable tolerance. Innovations in xenotransplantation, multigene‐edited donor animals, and tissue biofabrication offer potential solutions to structural organ shortages, although they are accompanied by regulatory and ethical challenges. Artificial intelligence further enhances donor–recipient matching, risk prediction, and personalized immunosuppressive management. This review synthesizes advances in preservation technologies, immune engineering, cellular tolerance induction, artificial intelligence‐driven decision support, and xenotransplantation and provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving transplant landscape. By integrating mechanistic insights into translational progress, we outline future pathways for regenerative, immune‐educational, and precision organ medicine.

Organ transplantation success relies on precise modulation of the alloimmune response across distinct temporal phases of rejection. Hyperacute rejection results from preformed antibodies activating complement and causing thrombosis, while acute rejection involves T cell‐ and antibody‐mediated mechanisms that drive endothelial activation and microvascular inflammation. Chronic rejection reflects maladaptive repair and fibroproliferation leading to progressive graft dysfunction. Contemporary management integrates induction and maintenance immunosuppression with advanced molecular monitoring. Balancing immune control against infection, toxicity, and malignancy remains central to optimizing long‐term graft survival. Together, these advances signify a paradigm shift from empirical suppression toward precision‐guided, immune‐educational transplant medicine.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** infection (MESH:D007239)

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12783923/full.md

## Figures

6 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12783923/full.md

## References

319 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12783923/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12783923