title: Contribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to graft-versus-host disease and graft-versus-leukemia reactivity after transplantation of MHC-compatible bone marrow.
abstract: A murine model of allogeneic bone marrow (BM) transplantation was used to determine the relative importance of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in establishing donor T cell chimerism and in the development of graft-versus-host (GVH) and graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) reactivity. Mature donor T cells were essential for complete chimerism when host mice (AKR, H-2k) were conditioned with suboptimal irradiation (9 Gy = LD50). Transplantation of donor BM (B10.BR, H-2k) resulted in mixed chimerism, whereas mice given BM containing additional T cells developed into complete and stable chimeras. Depletion of T cell subsets was associated with an increase in the frequency of mixed chimerism. The incidence of lethal GVHD was dependent on the number of T cells added to the BM inoculum. Ex vivo depletion of CD4+ T cells eliminated GVH-associated mortality. Removal of CD8+ T cells had no effect on overall survival. In contrast to the GVH results, removal of either CD4+ or CD8+ T cells compromised GVL reactivity, indicating that an optimal GVL response required both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. T cell-subset depletion did not interfere with the induction of donor-host tolerance in these chimeras and may have facilitated its development. The loss of GVH/GVL effector cells as a result of T cell depletion and the development of donor-host tolerance may act synergistically to prevent or suppress GVH and GVL reactivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Truitt
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Atasoylu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002678:Chimera; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D006648:Histocompatibility / Q000276:immunology*; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D051379:Mice; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens