title: The role of granzyme B in murine models of acute graft-versus-host disease and graft rejection.
abstract: A complete molecular description of the syndromes of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and graft rejection could have a significant impact on clinical bone marrow transplantation. Recent in vitro experiments (Heusel et al, Cell 76:977, 1994 and Shresta et al, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92:5679, 1995) have shown that the putative mediators of these two syndromes, cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells, respectively, initiate a program of cell death (apoptosis) in susceptible target tissues in a manner critically dependent on the serine protease Granzyme B (gzm B). In the present study, we have analyzed the phenotype of gzm B-deficient mice using experimental transplant models designed to isolate their CD8+ CTL, CD4+ CTL, and NK compartments. We found a significant impairment in class I-dependent GVHD mediated by gzm B -/- CD8+ CTL, whereas class II-dependent GVHD was not altered using gzm B -/- CD4+ effectors. In a hybrid resistance model, gzm B -/- hosts rejected haplo-identical marrow grafts as efficiently as did their wild-type littermates. This result is surprising in light of a severe defect in the ability of gzm B -/- NK cells to induce apoptosis in susceptible targets in vitro. These in vivo data define significant role for gzm B in cytotoxicity mediated by CD8+ CTL, but not by CD4+ CTL. Furthermore, these results do not support a model of hybrid resistance in which NK cells play a pivotal role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Genetics, Washington University Medical School, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Graubert
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D053804:Granzymes; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000502:physiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D053804:Granzymes; C509214:Gzmb protein, mouse; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases