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To investigate the antigen specificity of regulatory T cells capable of preventing transplant rejection, we have developed two different strategies to achieve tolerance to fully mismatched skin grafts in euthymic mice. A combination of nondepleting Abs targeting CD4, CD8, and CD154 (CD40 ligand) induces dominant transplantation tolerance to fully mismatched skin allografts. Such tolerance is antigen-specific, mediated by regulatory T cells, and can be extended through linked suppression to naïve lymphocytes. The same protocol, when combined with allogeneic bone marrow, enables the development of mixed hematopoietic chimerism and deletional tolerance. Although we cannot exclude that some regulatory T cells may persist in chimeric mice, these cells are insufficient to mediate linked suppression. CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells, whether taken from naïve mice or from mice tolerized through either treatment protocol, were always able to prevent rejection of skin grafts by naïve CD4(+) T cells, and did so with no demonstrable specificity for the tolerizing donor antigens. Such data question whether CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells alone can account for the antigen specificity of dominant transplantation tolerance.

Original publication

DOI

10.1073/pnas.0400084101

Type

Journal article

Journal

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Publication Date

06/07/2004

Volume

101

Pages

10122 - 10126

Keywords

Animals, CD4 Antigens, CD40 Ligand, CD8 Antigens, Graft Rejection, Immune Tolerance, Mice, Mice, Inbred Strains, Receptors, Interleukin-2, Skin Transplantation, T-Lymphocyte Subsets, Tissue Donors, Transplantation Chimera