Conclusions

Although many available data describe carbohydrate antigens, it is also true that some discrepancies between each case are seen, indicating current limitation to information on xenotransplantation. The current carbohydrate antigens are α1,3Gal, non-α1,3Gal antigen, NeuGc, Forssman antigen, Galα1-3 LewX, α-linked or β-linked GalNAc, β1,3-linked Gal, NeuAc, and SDa-like antigens. However, discrepancies between each antigenic property existed. The most effective immunosuppressive agents are the CD40–CD154 signaling blockers together with the B-cell inhibitors in xenotransplantation models. At present, for better designing of the application in xenogeneic pigs, candidates of genetically modified pig lines, such as SLA proteins and other epitope antigen-deficient pigs, immune-related cell inhibitors, such as macrophage cells, T cells, and NK cells, and also human complement and coagulation-related regulator proteins, in α1,3Gal-T-KO and CMAH-KO lineages, are under investigation.