title: Immunosuppression with monoclonal antibodies and CTLA4-Ig after myoblast transplantation in mice.
abstract: Various combinations of monoclonal antibodies specific for lymphocyte cell surface antigens and a recombinant molecule (CTLA4-Ig) were used to immunosuppress mice after transplantation of MHC-incompatible myoblasts. To assess the effectiveness of the immunosuppression, the donor myoblasts were obtained from a transgenic mouse (TnI LacZ1/29) containing a beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) reporter gene under the control of a muscle-specific promoter. No muscle fibers expressing beta-gal were observed 1 month after the myoblast transplantation, when the animals were not immunosuppressed or were treated with CTLA4-Ig alone. Approximately 50% of the muscle fibers expressed the beta-gal reporter gene 1 month after transplantation in mice treated with CTLA4-Ig combined with an anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody and in mice treated with a combination of anti-CD4, anti-CD8, and anti-lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1. The percentage of beta-gal-labeled muscle fibers increased to 94% when this combination of the three monoclonal antibodies was administrated weekly for 3 weeks. Although excellent graft survival rates were obtained 1 month after transplantation, reflecting an effective immunosuppression by these three treatments, no beta-gal-positive fibers were found 2 months after the transplantation, indicating the inability of these immunosuppressive agents to maintain long-term graft survival and induce tolerance to the myoblasts and muscle fibers of donor origin.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neurobiologie, Université Laval and Hopital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guerette
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gingras
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tremblay
mesh_terms: D000069594:Abatacept; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000494:pharmacology*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556707:Ctla4 protein, mouse; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D000069594:Abatacept; D001616:beta-Galactosidase