Premium
CD8 T Cells Can Reject Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I‐Deficient Skin Allografts
Author(s) -
He Chunshui,
Heeger Peter S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
american journal of transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.89
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1600-6143
pISSN - 1600-6135
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2004.00416.x
Subject(s) - cd8 , immunology , major histocompatibility complex , adoptive cell transfer , cytotoxic t cell , transplantation , medicine , context (archaeology) , t cell , antigen , biology , immune system , in vitro , genetics , paleontology
Following transplantation, recipient T cells can recognize and respond to donor antigens expressed directly on donor cells, and can respond to donor‐derived peptides that have been processed and presented in the context of recipient MHC through the indirect pathway. Indirectly primed CD4 + T cells have been well studied in transplantation, but little information is available regarding whether indirectly primed CD8 + T cells participate in rejection. To address this, we placed MHC class I‐deficient D b K b knockout skin grafts onto allogeneic H‐2 k SCID recipients followed by adoptive transfer of purified H‐2 k CD8 + T cells. The MHC class I‐deficient grafts were rejected and only CD8 + T cells were detectable in the recipient lymphoid organs and in the skin grafts. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that CD8 + T cells were found in close proximity to vascular endothelial cells and to recipient infiltrating macrophages, suggesting specific interactions. The data demonstrate that cross‐primed polyclonal CD8 + T cells can function as active participants in the effector phase of rejection. The findings confirm and extend previous studies using a monoclonal TCR transgenic T cell and shed light on mechanisms of acute and chronic graft injury that are potentially relevant to human transplant recipients.