The Feasibility Of Altering The Immunogenicity Of Grafts

Most attempts to prolong the survival of allografts have involved treatment of the host to impair its capacity to reject them. Early uncritical attempts to treat the graft rather than the host were received with skepticism because of the prevailing belief that the alloantigens on cell surfaces are i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of investigative dermatology 1976-07, Vol.67 (1), p.149-159
Main Author: Billingham, Rupert E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adrenal Cortex Hormones - pharmacology
Animals
Anterior Chamber - surgery
Antibody Formation
Antilymphocyte Serum - pharmacology
Concanavalin A - pharmacology
DNA - pharmacology
Female
Glutaral - pharmacology
Humans
Kidney - radiation effects
Lymphocytes - immunology
Neoplasm Transplantation
Parathyroid Glands - transplantation
Pregnancy
Radiation Effects
RNA - pharmacology
Skin Transplantation
Transplantation Immunology
Transplantation, Homologous
Trophoblasts - immunology
Urethane - pharmacology
X-Rays
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Summary:Most attempts to prolong the survival of allografts have involved treatment of the host to impair its capacity to reject them. Early uncritical attempts to treat the graft rather than the host were received with skepticism because of the prevailing belief that the alloantigens on cell surfaces are immutable. However, over the past decade unequivocal evidence has accumulated that the immunogenicity of allografts is susceptible to alteration. Short-term maintenance in vitro of malignant and normal tissue grafts, such as those of the ovary and thyroid. weakens their susceptibility to rejection. Various agents have been identified which, when applied to tissues or organs in vitro, have a similar effect. Soaking skin in media containing steroids, urethane, thalidomide, antilymphocyte globulin (ALG), and specific alloantibody is also effective. X-irradiation and perfusion of allogeneic dog kidneys with solutions of concanavalin A or of nucleic acid prepared from the future donor or even from indifferent donors or microorganisms lead to extended survival. There is also equivocal evidence that soaking mouse skin grafts in RNA prepared from unrelated donors causes them to be treated as allogeneic by syngeneic recipients. Skin from animals suffering from certain diseases displays altered immunogenicity. Skin from mice suffering from virus-induced leukemia or lymphocytic choriomeningitis is frequently rejected by syngeneic recipients. By contrast, skin allografts from some cancer patients and from mice bearing certain tumors give evidence of prolonged survival as do grafts from uremic mice. Some treatments of prospective donors, including cytotoxic drugs, ALG, specific alloantisera, hypoxia, and experimentally produced uremia, also extend the lives of allografts.
ISSN:0022-202X
1523-1747
DOI:10.1111/1523-1747.ep12513006