This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in basic and translational research in the field of reconstructive transplantation and its potential therapeutic implications. Dr. Thomas E. Starzl and Dr. Raimund Margreiter, both pioneers in the field of transplantation, have written forewords for the book.

The volume spans such topics as skin rejection, immune monitoring, stem cell-based immunomodulatory strategies, costimulatory blockade, tolerance induction, chronic rejection, ischemia reperfusion injury, nerve regeneration, cortical reintegration, and small and large animal models for reconstructive transplantation. The book is intended for biomedical researchers and basic scientists in the field of reconstructive transplantation, transplant immunology and regenerative medicine, as well as clinicians, surgeons and multidisciplinary specialists, who are practicing or interested in this novel and exciting field. Postgraduate fellows and students will also find it a valuable reference.

Autorentext
Gerald Brandacher is Scientific Director of the Johns Hopkins Composite Tissue Allotransplantation (CTA) program. He is also an Associate Professor of surgery at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins in 2010, Dr. Brandacher was a Key Member of the hand transplant programs in Innsbruck, Austria, and at the University of Pittsburgh, where he headed the nation's first double hand transplant surgery and the first forearm transplant surgery. He was also instrumental in designing a novel cell-based immunomodulatory treatment protocol for CTA. His main scientific interests are donor-specific immune tolerance and immunomonitoring strategies and he has published extensively.

Inhalt
Foreword.- 1. Small Animal Models for Reconstructive Transplantation.- 2. Use of Large Animal and Nonhuman Primate Models for Reconstructive Transplantation.- 3. Unique Immunological Features of Vascularized Composite Allografts.- 4. Immunological Differences Between Face and Extremity Transplants.- 5. Advances in Diagnosing Skin Rejection and Immune Monitoring.- 6. Bayesian Classifier and Molecular Marker Platforms for Immune Monitoring.- 7. Migration and Communication Patterns in Skin Rejection.- 8. Antibody Mediated Rejection in Reconstructive Transplantation.- 9. The Influence of Skin-specific Antigen Presenting Cells on Immunogenicity of Vascularized Composite Allografts.- 10. Chronic Rejection in Reconstructive Transplantation.- 11. Cell-based Immunomodulatory Concepts and Tolerance Protocols for Reconstructive Transplantation.- 12. Mixed Chimerism for Tolerance Induction to Vascularized Composite Allografts.- 13. Bone Marrow Derived ex vivo Created Hematopoietic Chimeric Cells to Support Engraftment and Maintain Long-term Graft Survival in Reconstructive Transplantation.- 14. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) as Immune Modulators in VCA.- 15. Costimulation Blockade in Reconstructive Transplantation.- 16. Strategies for Gene Transfer to Vascularized Composite Allografts.- 17. Models and Tools to Assess Nerve Regeneration and Functional Outcomes.- 18. Stem Cells as a Means to Enhance Neuro Regeneration after Reconstructive Transplantation.- 19. Cortical Reintegration of Vascularized Composite Allografts.- 20. Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Reconstructive and Solid Organ Transplantation - Differences and Similarities.- 21. Tissue Engineering and Reconstructive Transplantation A Perfect Couple?.- Index.