Outcomes after lung transplantation are markedly inferior to those after other solid organ transplants. A better understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms contributing to lung graft injury will be critical to improve outcomes. Advances in this field have been hampered by the lack of a mouse model of lung transplantation. Here, we report a mouse model of vascularized aerated single lung transplantation utilizing cuff techniques. We show that syngeneic grafts have normal histological appearance with minimal infiltration of T lymphocytes. Allogeneic grafts show acute cellular rejection with infiltration of T lymphocytes and recipient-type antigen presenting cells. Our data show that we have developed a physiological model of lung transplantation in the mouse, which provides ample opportunity for the study of nonimmune and immune mechanisms that contribute to lung allograft injury.
It is the prevailing view that adaptive immune responses are initiated in secondary lymphoid organs. Studies using alymphoplastic mice have shown that secondary lymphoid organs are essential to initiate allograft rejection of skin, heart, and small bowel. The high immunogenicity of lungs is well recognized and allograft rejection remains a major contributing factor to poor outcomes after lung transplantation. We show in this study that alloreactive T cells are initially primed within lung allografts and not in secondary lymphoid organs following transplantation. In contrast to other organs, lungs are acutely rejected in the absence of secondary lymphoid organs. Two-photon microscopy revealed that recipient T cells cluster predominantly around lung-resident, donor-derived CD11c+ cells early after engraftment. These findings demonstrate for the first time that alloimmune responses following lung transplantation are initiated in the graft itself and therefore identify a novel, potentially clinically relevant mechanism of lung allograft rejection.
The mechanisms by which innate immune signals regulate alloimmune responses remain poorly understood. In the present study, we show by intravital 2-photon microscopy direct interactions between graft-infiltrating neutrophils and donor
Unlike other solid organs, vascularized mouse lung transplantation has only recently been developed. In this publication we describe the detailed method for performing a vascularized and aerated mouse orthotopic lung transplant, which to date represents the most physiologic mouse model of lung transplantation. The procedure is divided into two separate portions consisting of donor harvest followed by implantation using the cuff technique for bronchovascular anastomoses. After a several month training period the procedure can be successfully mastered and in experienced hands requires approximately 90 minutes to perform. After an initial learning curve perioperative survival is close to 100%. As over time the donor hematopoietic cells in the transplanted lung are replaced by those of the host, thereby creating a “chimeric lung”, this model represents a novel research tool for the study of transplantation biology as well as other disease processes such as malignancies.
Graft rejection remains a formidable problem contributing to poor outcomes after lung transplantation. Blocking chemokine pathways have yielded promising results in some organ transplant systems. Previous clinical studies have demonstrated upregulation of CCR2 ligands following lung transplantation. Moreover, lung injury is attenuated in CCR2-deficient mice in several inflammatory models. In this study, we examined the role of CCR2 in monocyte recruitment and alloimmune responses in a mouse model of vascularized orthotopic lung transplantation. The CCR2 ligand MCP-1 is upregulated in serum and allografts following lung transplantation. CCR2 is critical for the mobilization of monocytes from the bone marrow into the bloodstream and for the accumulation of CD11c+ cells within lung allografts. A portion of graft-infiltrating recipient CD11c+ cells expresses both recipient and donor MHC molecules. Two-photon imaging demonstrates that recipient CD11c+ cells are associated with recipient T cells within the graft. While recipient CCR2 deficiency does not prevent acute lung rejection and is associated with increased graft infiltration by T cells, it significantly reduces CD4+ Th1 indirect and direct allorecognition. Thus, CCR2 may be a potential target to attenuate alloimmune responses after lung transplantation.
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