Transplantation immunology governs whether transferred cells, tissue, or organs are accepted or rejected based on the degree of genetic (antigenic) similarity between donor and recipient, since the recipient's immune system recognizes non-self tissue and mounts a rejection response. Transplants are classified by the genetic relationship between donor and recipient—autograft, isograft, allograft, and xenograft—and rejection risk and clinical strategy (tissue typing, immunosuppression) scale with antigenic disparity between the two. This is a concept within immunology, specifically transplantation immunology, and rests on the broader principle of self/non-self antigen recognition by the adaptive immune system.
Transplantation immunology governs whether transferred cells, tissue, or organs are accepted or rejected based on the degree of genetic (antigenic) similarity between donor and recipient, since the r…