Collection-image

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Translational Research in Organ Failure: From Disease Models to Transplantation Techniques
Submit Abstract

Guest Editors

Jiangping Song

Jiangping Song

Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Dr. Song Jiangping is a tenure-track professor at Peking Union Medical College, a PhD supervisor in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Fuwai Hospital, and the director of the Beijing Key Laboratory for Preclinical Research and Evaluation of Cardiovascular Implantable Materials. He also serves as a member of the Sixth Advisory Committee of the Medical Science Department, National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Song has been dedicated to the comprehensive management and translational research on heart failure. He pioneered a precision classification system for heart failure patients, focusing on strategies to "avoid transplantation, delay transplantation, and actively transplant." His groundbreaking work in predicting sudden cardiac death in concealed heart failure patients and their relatives has been recognized in European textbooks and cited in clinical guidelines. He was among the first to conduct preclinical studies on artificial hearts and xenotransplantation, offering new therapeutic pathways for patients with end-stage heart failure. His research resulted in the world's first high-resolution vascular atlas of the normal human heart, uncovered key immunological changes in heart failure, and revealed multiple reversible drug targets. Through interdisciplinary approaches, he has also investigated the impact of circadian rhythm disorders on heart failure and proposed lifestyle intervention strategies. Dr. Song is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, and the Chief Scientist of the National Key R&D Program. He has authored 62 papers as a corresponding author in prestigious journals, including Circulation, Science Translational Medicine, European Heart Journal, and Nature Cell Biology. He has also contributed to an international medical textbook. 

Xiao Chen

Xiao Chen

Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Dr. Xiao Chen is an associate professor at Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. She specializes in cardiac immunity and cardiovascular disease research, focusing on the regulation of immune cell function and its impact on cardiac inflammation and myocardial injury. Her main research areas include immune modulation after heart transplantation, inflammation mechanisms in heart failure, and aging-related immune imbalance in the heart. Utilizing epigenetics, immunology, and clinical sample analysis, she explores novel strategies to regulate immune responses. Dr. Chen’s research aims to reduce transplant rejection and myocardial damage while providing new targets for precision intervention in cardiovascular diseases. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Circulation, Cardiovascular Research, and the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 

Kai Xing

Kai Xing

Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Dr. Kai Xing, PhD, specializes in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and heart transplantation in end-stage heart failure. His research integrates multi-omics approaches, including single-cell transcriptomics, metabolomics, and spatial omics, utilizing human specimens and animal models (mouse, rat, pig, monkey). Dr. Xing has expertise in allotransplantation, focusing on donor pool expansion, organ preservation, acute rejection, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), as well as xenotransplantation, with an emphasis on gene editing and immune rejection. Additionally, he investigates heart-brain interactions in cardio-cerebral comorbidities, aiming to enhance transplantation outcomes and develop novel therapeutic strategies. 

Yuan Chang

Yuan Chang

Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

Dr. Chang Yuan, PhD, is a researcher at Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, specializing in the mechanisms of heart transplant rejection. His work aims to improve long-term heart transplant outcomes through pre-transplant immune tolerance induction, post-transplant graft function preservation, and the prevention of late acute rejection. His research focuses on developing novel immunosuppressive agents, investigating primary graft dysfunction mechanisms, and regulating innate immune activation in transplant rejection. Utilizing advanced techniques such as single-cell sequencing, transcriptomic analysis, and mouse heterotopic heart transplantation models, Dr. Yuan explores key immune pathways to optimize immunosuppressive strategies for heart transplantation. His research has been published in leading journals such as Circulation and Science Translational Medicine. 

Collection Overview

End-stage organ failure is a major global medical challenge, often necessitating transplantation as the ultimate treatment. While allogeneic transplantation remains the primary clinical solution, donor shortages and limitations in long-term graft survival have driven the scientific community to explore more advanced transplantation strategies.  

This Methods Collection compiles key research methodologies and the latest advancements in transplantation medicine. It aims to highlight experimental models and techniques in organ failure, allogeneic, and xenogeneic transplantation research.  

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts on, but not limited to, the following topics: 

  • End-stage organ failure models (e.g., coronary artery disease, heart failure, and cardio-cerebral comorbidities) 
  • Small and large animal allogeneic transplantation models (e.g., donor pool expansion, heart transplantation techniques, and kidney transplantation strategies) 
  • Xenotransplantation models (e.g., rodents, pig-to-primate, and gene editing) 

This collection begins with research on delaying organ failure, systematically explores the optimization of allogeneic transplantation, and ultimately extends to xenotransplantation, establishing a structured framework for transplantation research. Through standardized animal models, we aim to advance transplantation medicine toward safer and more effective approaches, offering better treatment options for patients with end-stage organ failure. 

Articles

A Double-Vessel Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Porcine Model using Autologous Internal Mammary Veins

A Double-Vessel Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Porcine Model using Autologous Internal Mammary Veins

0 Views

•

2026

•

A Preclinical Model of Orthotopic Heart Transplantation in Bama Miniature Pigs Using Biatrial Technique
6:55

Abstracts

A Standardized Pig‑to‑Pig Valved Conduit Allotransplantation Model

jiangping song*1

1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China