Expression of an anti-CD4 single-chain antibody fragment from the donor cornea can prolong corneal allograft survival in inbred rats

Abstract

Unmodified controls were also performed. Graft survival was assessed by corneal clarity and rejection was confirmed histologically. Results In organ-cultured corneas, expression of anti-CD4scFv was detected at 2 days post-transduction with the adenoviral vector, compared with 5 days post-transduction with the lentivector, and was 10-fold higher from the former. More inflammation was observed in Ad-CD4scFv-modified allografts than in Lv-CD4scFv-modified grafts at 15 days postsurgery (p=0.01). The median time to rejection for unmodified, LV-eYFP and Ad-CD4scFv grafts was day 17, compared with day 22 for Lv-CD4scFv grafts (p≤0.018). Conclusion Donor corneas transduced with a lentiviral vector carrying anti-CD4scFv cDNA showed a modest but significant prolongation in graft survival compared with unmodified, Lv-eYFP and Ad-CD4scFv grafts. However, rejection still occurred in all Lv-CD4scFv grafts, indicating that sensitization may have been delayed but was not prevented.

Role of Immune Cell Diversity and Heterogeneity in Corneal Graft Survival: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In this review, the respective contributions of these two cell subsets in murine corneal-allograft rejection were investigated. Six studies [58][59][60][61][62][63] used anti-CD4 antibodies in murine corneal transplantation. While four studies showed that systemic or local administration of anti-CD4 antibodies could reduce the rejection rate, two of these studies [59,61] reported that anti-CD8 antibody administration did not reduce the rejection rate of corneal allografts.…”