The role of afferent lymphatics in the rejection of skin homografts.

Experiments have been carried out on guinea pigs of two isogenic strains to elucidate the role of afferent lymphatic vessels in the rejection of orthotopic skin homografts. Graft beds were prepared in partially isolated skin flaps with an intact sustaining vascular "umbilical cord" in which a lymphatic connection with the host could be retained or abolished at will. In the absence of demonstrable lymphatic connections between flap and host, intra-flap homografts long outlived similar grafts transplanted to conventional sites in intact skin and, rather than being specifically rejected, died as a consequence of ischemic necrosis of the flap. When lymphatic drainage was retained, intra-flap homografts were rejected in the usual manner. Hosts of long-term intra-flap homografts did not develop sensitivity, as evidenced by the "first set" type rejection of subsequent test grafts, or by the long-term survival of a second skin graft transplanted to a new flap raised on the opposite side of the host's body. Intra-flap skin homografts were rejected if (a) the hosts had been presensitized, (b) they were grafted concomitantly with a skin homograft placed in a conventional site, or inoculated with a suspension of donor lymphoid cells, or (c) if the lymphatic drainage was restored by reimplantation of the hitherto partially isolated flap to an appropriate vascular bed. These findings and others indicate that an intact lymphatic drainage in its bed is essential for an orthotopic skin homograft to sensitize its host. Various experiments were carried out in which intra-flap homografts were used as "indicators" for the acquisition of specific active or adoptive immunity by their hosts. By transplanting skin homografts to conventional beds concomitantly with intra-flap grafts and then excising the former at various intervals, it has been found that a graft must be in residence for a minimum period of 4 days to evoke the development of a detectable level of sensitivity in the host. Furthermore, by replacing either freshly prepared or long-term skin flaps bearing skin homografts in vascular beds on the trunk and determining the subsequent survival times of the homografts, evidence has been obtained suggesting that reestablishment of a functional lymphatic system in a free skin graft may take as long as 9 days. Using intra-flap homografts as indicators of adoptive immunization of the host, we found that as few as 50 x 10(6) isologous peripheral blood leukocytes from a specifically sensitized animal will transfer an effective level of sensitivity. We also found that hyperimmune serum, in relatively large amount, exerts a weak but definite adverse effect upon either freshly or recently transplanted intra-flap grafts.

The lymphatic status of hamster cheek pouch tissue in relation to its properties as a graft and as a graft site.

Hamster cheek pouch skin, transplanted to the side of an isogenic host's chest wall, retains its immunologically privileged status as evidenced by the prolonged survival of inlaid homografts of ordinary skin. Various findings sustain the premise that exemption from rejection by otherwise susceptible homografts in both intact pouch tissue and in established pouch skin isografts is due to an impediment in the afferent pathway of the immunologic reflex, i.e., to deficient lymphatic drainage. Although lymphatics were not apparent when dye was injected into pouch skin grafts or into grafts of ordinary skin sustained by them, lymph vessels were readily and consistently revealed by dye injected into intact trunk skin or established isografts of trunk skin. When suspensions of viable lymph node cells from specifically sensitized parental strain donors were injected superficially into either the intact skin or established grafts of normal skin on F(1) hybrid hamsters, a striking hypertrophy of the regional lymph nodes occurred, due to graft-versus-host reactivity. However, similar cell suspensions inoculated into intact pouch tissue or into pouch skin grafts on F(1) hamsters incited no regional lymphadenopathy, indicating the lack of appropriate pathways to the nodes. When skin homografts were inlaid eccentrically into pouch skin isografts, so that they were in contact with host skin at one edge, rejection occurred. Furthermore, rejection of long-established intrapouch skin homografts resulted if the hosts received: (a) small homografts of ordinary skin transplanted to conventional beds; (b) suspensions of donor strain pouch skin epidermal cells, injected intracutaneously; (c) lymph node cells from specifically sensitized donors of the same strain, i.e. adoptive immunization; or, (d) if a portion of the target homograft's perimeter was surgically approximated to body skin. Treatment of normal hamsters with two closely spaced pulses of ALS, although only marginally effective in prolonging the lives of homografts of trunk skin, enabled pouch skin homografts to survive for very long periods. The influence of this brief treatment with immunosuppressant was still demonstrable if challenge of hosts with the weakly immunogenic pouch skin homografts was delayed for 100 days.

Skeletal muscle as a privileged site for orthotopic skin allografts.

A semi-privileged status for rat skin allografts may be achieved by placing them on extensive open beds formed by panniculus carnosus muscle which prevents contact of the transplant with host skin. Such allografts enjoy approximately a twofold increase in their life expectancy, even if transplanted across a strong histocompatibility barrier. Experiments are described which rule out stress or a "central" weakening of response, such as enhancement, as explanations of this phenomenon. Intact skin "islands" separated from surrounding host skin on all sides by a broad border of bared panniculus were also found to serve as privileged sites. Dye injected into these islands failed to reach the regional nodes until about the 15th day after their preparation. These studies indicate that a lymphatic deficit is responsible for the observed privileged status of the allografts.

Influence of culturing on the survival of major histocompatibility complex-compatible and -incompatible thyroid grafts in rats.

Culturing Fischer thyroid fragments promotes their survival in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) -incompatible ACI rats but not in MHC- compatible Lewis animals.

Spontaneous diabetes in rats: destruction of islets is prevented by immunological tolerance.

Spontaneous diabetes occurring in "BB" rats (derived from a colony of outbred Wistar rats) is the result of destruction of pancreatic islets by infiltrating mononuclear cells (insulitis) and may be a disease very similar to human juvenile onset diabetes. Both diseases probably have an autoimmune etiology. Evidence is presented that islets transplanted to diabetic BB rats are destroyed by the original disease process. Inoculation of bone marrow from normal (nondiabetes-susceptible) rat donors into neonatal BB recipients usually prevented the development of hyperglycemia.

Lymph node cells: their differential capacity to induce tolerance of heart and skin homografts in rats.

Rats of the BN strain, inoculated at birth with (Lewis x BN)F(1) hybrid lymph node cells are not tolerant of Lewis skin grafts but do display high degrees of tolerance of Lewis hearts.

Prevention of autoimmune diabetes in the BB rat by intrathymic islet transplantation at birth.

Spontaneous diabetes in the BioBreeding (BB) rat, like human type I diabetes, results from the destruction of pancreatic islets by autoreactive T lymphocytes recognizing beta cell-specific antigens. T cell tolerance is in part mediated by interactions of maturing thymocytes with antigens expressed in the thymic microenvironment; islets were therefore implanted into the thymus of neonatal diabetes-prone BB rats to determine whether exposure of T cell precursors to beta cell antigens could influence the development of diabetes. This treatment completely prevented diabetes and insulitis in the native pancreas. The effect may be the result of specific modulation of diabetogenic T cells maturing in an islet-bearing thymus.

Induction of donor-specific unresponsiveness by intrathymic islet transplantation.

The application of isolated pancreatic islet transplantation for treatment of diabetes mellitus has been hampered by the vulnerability of islet allografts to immunologic rejection. Rat islet allografts that were transplanted into the thymus of recipients treated with a single injection of anti-lymphocyte serum survived indefinitely. A state of donor-specific unresponsiveness was achieved that permitted survival of a second donor strain islet allograft transplanted to an extrathymic site. Maturation of T cell precursors in a thymic microenvironment that is harboring foreign alloantigen may induce the selective unresponsiveness. This model provides an approach for pancreatic islet transplantation and a potential strategy for specific modification of the peripheral immune repertoire.

The influence of T-lymphocyte precursor cells and thymus grafts on the cellular immunodeficiencies of the BB rat.

To determine whether abnormal T-lymphocyte precursor cells or an abnormal thymus is responsible for the immunologic deficiencies of spontaneously diabetic BB rats, thymus grafts or T-cell-depleted bone marrow cells were exchanged between diabetes-prone and non-diabetes-prone animals. Analysis of peripheral lymphocyte populations from these recipients with monoclonal antibodies, a fluorescence activated cell sorter, and mixed lymphocyte culture tests indicate that an abnormal thymus is not responsible for the immunodeficiency of BB rats, but that the defect resides within the lymphocyte precursor pool.

Promotion of pancreatic islet allograft survival by intrathymic transplantation of bone marrow.

An important goal in the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes by pancreatic islet transplantation is the development of strategies that allow permanent survival of islet allografts without continuous host immunosuppression. In this study, we demonstrate that inoculation of allogeneic bone marrow into the thymus of adult rats treated with a single dose of anti-lymphocyte serum induces an unresponsive state that permits survival of subsequent pancreatic islet allografts transplanted to an extrathymic site. This effect is donor specific, cannot be reproduced by systemic administration of bone marrow, and is associated with persistence of chimeric cells in the thymus of the recipient. In addition, lymph node cells from long-term recipients of intrathymic bone marrow display markedly reduced proliferative responses to donor alloantigens in mixed lymphocyte culture. Interaction of maturing thymocytes with foreign alloantigens may produce the unresponsiveness. This model offers a potential approach for establishing donor-specific allograft acceptance in adult recipients.

Transplantation of islets and bone marrow cells to animals with immune insulitis.

The results of islet transplantation in an animal model of spontaneous immune insulitis were studied to see whether this disease process might damage transplanted tissue. Since the insulitis occurs only in "BB" rats (which are not genetically uniform) syngeneic grafts could not be used, therefore allograft rejection was avoided by rendering "BB" rats tolerant of WF transplantation antigens by inoculating them neonatally with WF bone marrow cells. Despite the resultant tolerant state, which permitted successful engraftment of WF skin and islets transplanted to artificially diabetic "BB" rats, tolerant "BB" rats with spontaneous diabetes accepted transplanted WF islets only briefly before they were destroyed by immune insulitis. "BB" rats were found to have abnormalities in immune response (delayed skin graft rejection and decreased alloreactivity in mixed lymphocyte response). "BB" rats that were treated neonatally with WF bone marrow. Moreover, "BB" rats inoculated with WF bone marrow neonatally were found less likely to become diabetic than untreated "BB" controls. It is suggested that the chimeric state (persistence of WF bone marrow cells) may be responsible for the improved immune response and perhaps for the decreased susceptibility to diabetes.

Prevention of recurrent autoimmune diabetes in BB rats by anti-asialo-GM1 antibody.

BB rats exhibit a syndrome of spontaneous diabetes that has clinical and pathological characteristics analogous to those found in human insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Islet tissue transplanted into spontaneously diabetic BB rats is uniformly destroyed by a recurrence of the autoimmune response that destroyed the diabetic subject's native islets. To examine recurrent autoimmune destruction of transplanted islets, it is necessary to exclude islet damage that might result from allograft rejection. We utilized neonatal tolerance induction to prevent rejection of Wistar-Furth (WF) (RT1u) islet allografts by spontaneously diabetic BB recipients. We determined that islet-recipient treatment with anti-asialo-GM1 (anti-AGM1) antibody prevents recurrent autoimmune diabetes that would otherwise destroy transplanted WF islet grafts. Anti-AGM1 therapy significantly decreased peripheral blood natural killer (NK) cell activity. These data suggest a role for NK cells in the pathogenesis of recurrent diabetes in neonatally tolerant BB rats.

Prevention of recurrent diabetes in BB rats after islet transplantation by monoclonal antibody therapy.

Two immune responses imperil pancreatic islet allografts transplanted into subjects afflicted with autoimmune diabetes: 1) the well-described allograft response that is mounted against tissues bearing foreign transplantation antigens and 2) a recurrence of the beta-cell-specific autoimmune process responsible for the primary disease. To define the role of autoimmune response to transplanted islets, the possibility of a rejection response must be prevented. To accomplish this in spontaneously diabetic BB rats, we induced neonatal tolerance. We found that recurrent autoimmunity in tolerant BB rats can be prevented by treatment of recipients with the monoclonal antibody OX8 (specific for cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) but not W3/25 (specific for helper T-lymphocytes). These findings provide direct evidence for the role of OX8-bearing lymphocytes in autoimmune diabetogenesis.

B-cells are required for the initiation of insulitis and sialitis in nonobese diabetic mice.

Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice spontaneously develop an acute onset of hyperglycemia reminiscent of human type I diabetes. The disease is the end result of a mononuclear cell infiltration of pancreatic islets (insulitis), culminating in the selective destruction of islet beta-cells by autoreactive T-cells. NOD mice also exhibit defects in B-cell tolerance as manifested by the presence of autoantibodies against islet cell autoantigens. Based on the potential ability of B-cells to act as antigen presenting cells, we hypothesized that autoreactive B-cells of NOD mice may be necessary for the activation of islet reactive CD4+ T-cells. In the present study, we utilized an anti-mu antibody to induce in vivo depletion of B-cells and found that B-cell depletion completely abrogates the development of insulitis and sialitis in NOD mice. In contrast, control IgG-treated NOD mice developed insulitis and sialitis by 5 weeks of age. Additionally, the discontinuation of anti-mu chain antibody treatment led to the full restoration of the B-cell pool and the reappearance of insulitis and sialitis. Thus, we conclude that B-cells are a requisite cell population for the genesis of the inflammatory lesions of the islets of Langerhans. This finding suggests that autoreactive B-cells may act as the antigen presenting cells necessary for the initial activation of beta-cell-reactive CD4+ T-cells implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes.

Prevention of autoimmune recurrence and rejection by adenovirus-mediated CTLA4Ig gene transfer to the pancreatic graft in BB rat.

Type 1 diabetes is the result of a selective destruction of pancreatic islets by autoreactive T-cells. Therefore, in the context of islet or pancreas transplantation, newly transplanted beta-cells are threatened by both recurrent autoimmune and alloimmune responses in recipients with type 1 diabetes. In the present study, using spontaneously diabetic BB rats, we demonstrate that whereas isolated islets are susceptible to autoimmune recurrence and rejection, pancreaticoduodenal grafts are resistant to these biological processes. This resistance is mediated by lymphohematopoietic cells transplanted with the graft, since inactivation of these passenger cells by irradiation uniformly rendered the pancreaticoduodenal grafts susceptible to recurrent autoimmunity. We further studied the impact of local immunomodulation on autoimmune recurrence and rejection by ex vivo adenovirus-mediated CTLA4Ig gene transfer to pancreaticoduodenal grafts. Syngeneic DR-BB pancreaticoduodenal grafts transduced with AdmCTLA4Ig were rescued from recurrent autoimmunity. In fully histoincompatible LEW-->BB transplants, in which rejection and recurrence should be able to act synergistically, AdmCTLA4Ig transduced LEW-pancreaticoduodenal allografts enjoyed markedly prolonged survival in diabetic BB recipients. In situ reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that transferred CTLA4Ig gene was strongly expressed in both endocrine and exocrine tissues on day 3. These results indicate the potential utility of local CD28-B7 costimulatory blockade for prevention of alloimmune and autoimmune destruction of pancreatic grafts in type 1 diabetic hosts.

Effect of spontaneous diabetes on hormone release in BB/Phi rats: comparison between the isolated perfused pancreas/stomach/duodenum/spleen and the isolated perfused pancreas.

We have studied the effects of spontaneous diabetes in BB/Phi rats on hormone release in response to amino acids (15 mM) and to amino acids (15 mM) plus glucose (10 mM) from isolated perfused pancreas/stomach/duodenum/spleen (PSDS) and from isolated perfused pancreas (P) preparations. In the PSDS preparation, diabetes reduced total integrated insulin output by 97% (from 1146 +/- 198 to 40 +/- 24 ng/65 min, P less than 0.001), and glucagon output by about 50% (from 51.6 +/- 13.1 to 24.0 +/- 3.7 ng/65 min, P less than 0.05), whereas somatostatin output did not change (105.5 +/- 48.1 to 110.1 +/- 36.9 ng/65 min). In the P preparation, integrated glucagon output fell by 91% (from 97.9 +/- 26.8 to 8.6 +/- 4.8 ng/65 min, P less than 0.01) whereas integrated somatostatin output more than doubled (from 28.1 +/- 7.5 to 69.6 +/- 14.2 ng/65 min, P less than 0.05). Intestinal glucagon and somatostatin contributions were estimated by comparing hormone release from the PSDS with that from the P preparations. We conclude that in our nondiabetic BB/Phi rats, the pancreas was the only source for the release of glucagon and that the intestinal tract secreted more somatostatin than the pancreas. In the diabetic BB/Phi rats, pancreatic glucagon and insulin release was virtually abolished while glucagon secretion from the intestinal tract increased and somatostatin secretion decreased.

Variable response to donor-specific blood transfusion in the rat.

In an attempt to study the generality of effect of donor-specific blood transfusions (DSBT) in inducing immunologic unresponsiveness, the survival rates of heart, pancreas, and skin allografts were compared in blood-pretreated animals. DSBT, when given in a single-dose or multiple-dose protocol, prolonged cardiac allograft survivals in some strain combinations (F----L, LBN----L), but not in others (BN----L, ACI----L, ACI----WF). Antilymphocyte serum further prolonged survivals in protocols in which blood pretreatment was effective, and proved capable of reversing a state of sensitization in rats treated with multiple small-volume transfusions. In no case did the protection afforded the cardiac allografts extend to pancreatic or skin allografts, even with the use of nonspecific immunosuppression and a weak histocompatibility barrier. Third-party cardiac allografts were not protected by the blood pretreatment, attesting to the specificity of the transfusion effect. Addition of azathioprine during the blood pretreatment neither interfered with nor significantly improved the results seen with transfusion alone. The graft prolongation that follows blood pretreatment appears to be influenced by many factors, such as donor-host histocompatibility, the specific tissue transplanted, the blood transfusion schedule, and the use of adjunctive immunosuppression--but presently it is an unpredictable phenomenon.

The immediately vascularized skin allograft.

A model for immediate vascularization of skin was devised to examine one of the possible explanations for the differential survival rates of transplants of freely grafted skin and organs, i.e., the increased vulnerability of skin to early ischemic necrosis prior to revascularization. Female Fischer (F) rat skin was transplanted beneath the kidney capsule of tolerant female Lewis (LEW) recipients. This skin healed in and initially appeared to be normal grossly and microscopically. In 27 rats, after 30 days, the composite grafts were excised, and immediately transplanted by means of vascular anastomosis into normal LEW recipients (syngeneic to the kidney portion of the graft and allogeneic to the skin). For 5 days after transplantation of the composite graft, the skin appeared to be normal with minimal or no inflammation in a panel of 11 recipients. From the 6th to 11th day, an active rejection reaction developed at the skin-kidney interface in a panel of six rats. In 10 rats, in which the composite grafts remained in their secondary hosts for 12 to 21 days, rejection of the skin was complete. The renal portion of all composite grafts appeared to be normal histologically. All recipients of composite grafts rejected subsequent orthotopic F skin grafts in an accelerated manner, with median survival times of 8.2 +/- 0.3 days compared to 11.5 +/- 0.7 days in untreated F leads to LEW controls, demonstrating that the skin on the composite graft was fully immunogenic. These results demonstrate that immediately vascularized skin allografts between rats compatible at the major Ag-B1 locus will still be rejected within 2 weeks compared to survivals of up to 48 weeks in renal allografts in the same histocompatibility combinations, suggesting that anatomical factors are not sufficient to account for the differences in survival times between skin and solid organs.

Cardiac allograft tolerance induced by intra-arterial infusion of recombinant adenoviral CTLA4Ig.

BACKGROUND: Systemic administration of soluble recombinant fusion protein of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4Ig) induces blockade of the CD28/B7 costimulatory pathway and promotes survival of allogeneic and xenogeneic grafts. We tested the efficacy of local expression of CTLA4Ig gene in the myocardium, induced by transduction with a recombinant adenovirus encoding the CTLA4Ig gene, on the survival of rat cardiac allografts. METHODS: The donor hearts were perfused ex vivo with recombinant adenovirus encoding CTLA4Ig cDNA (AdCTLA4Ig) via intra-aorta coronary artery before transplantation. The distribution and duration of CTLA4Ig transgene expression in the myocardium was assessed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or in situ RT-PCR after transplantation. RESULTS: In situ RT-PCR demonstrated abundant expression of CTLA4Ig transgene in the endo-myocardium of AdCTLA4Ig-perfused cardiac grafts. Lewis and Brown Norway cardiac allografts transduced with AdCTLA4Ig survived indefinitely in nonimmunosuppressed Wistar Furth recipients. However, donor-strain skin grafts were rejected by long-term recipients of cardiac allografts, which also triggered the rejection of the primary heart grafts. CONCLUSIONS: A single ex vivo intra-aortic infusion of recombinant adenovirus encoding the CTLA4Ig gene induced efficient transduction of the endo-myocardium and promoted the permanent survival of cardiac allografts in nonimmunosuppressed hosts. Despite the beneficial effect of local immunosuppression on cardiac allograft survival, the strategy failed to promote a state of donor-specific peripheral tolerance.

Influence of culturing on the functioning of major-histocompatibility-complex-compatible and incompatible islet grafts in diabetic mice.

Culturing B10.BR (H-2k) islets promotes their survival in major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-incompatible BALB/c (H-2d) mice, but not in MHC-compatible CBA (H-2k) animals. These results provide further evidence that MHC restriction is involved in transplantation immunity--i.e., that allografts are only recognized as foreign if they possess donor macrophages (or cells of this family), or if antigen-presenting cells MHC-compatible with the graft can be provided by the host.