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Expression of the c‐kit proto‐oncogene in rat hepatic allografts during acute rejection
Author(s) -
Yamaguchi Yasuo,
Okabe Kazutoshi,
Matsumura Fujio,
Akizuki Eiji,
Matsuda Teishi,
Ohshiro Hajime,
Liang Jian,
Ishihara Kojiroh,
Mori Katsutaka,
Ogawa Michio
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.510290105
Subject(s) - isograft , transplantation , oncogene , liver transplantation , biology , messenger rna , pathology , medicine , immunology , gene , cancer , biochemistry , cell cycle
The role of the c‐kit proto‐oncogene in organ allograft rejection is not known. We investigated the level of c‐kit expression following allogeneic transplantation of ACI rat liver grafts into LEW recipients. We studied c‐kit mRNA and protein expression in groups of transplant recipients receiving hepatic isografts, hepatic allografts, or hepatic allografts after donor‐specific blood transfusion (DST). Pretransplantation DST significantly prolonged survival of hepatic allografts. Infiltrates expressing c‐kit were observed in allografts to untreated rats but not in groups receiving isografts or allografts following DST. Northern analysis also demonstrated abundant c‐kit mRNA transcripts in the untreated allograft group in contrast to the isograft and the DST‐treated groups. In addition, significantly more transcripts for interleukin‐12 (IL‐12), which is synergistic with c‐kit, were present in untreated than in DST‐treated allograft groups. In contrast, transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β), which inhibits c‐kit synthesis, was expressed abundantly in hepatic allografts to DST‐treated rats but not in allografts to untreated animals. Transcripts for IL‐10, which inhibits IL‐12 production, were significantly more plentiful in hepatic allografts following DST than in those without DST. The results suggest that c‐kit proto‐oncogene expression in infiltrating cells is associated with rat hepatic allograft rejection.