Expression, by functional proteomics, of spontaneous tolerance in rat orthotopic liver transplantation.
Orthotopic liver transplants (OLT) performed in certain combinations of donor and recipient rat strains, such as DA (RT1a) to PVG (RT1c), without immunosuppressive drugs could completely overcome major histocompatibility complex barriers. Although other organs transplanted in a similar fashion within the same combination have been promptly rejected, 60 day post-OLT serum (POD 60) has been proven competent in rapidly reversing the established rejection in animal models. In order to understand the functional role of tolerogenic serum proteins and their involvement with immune response regulation, a comprehensive analysis surveying global changes in complex OLT systems by proteomic techniques was applied. The results display the varying protein expressions in sera extracted from naïve and transplanted animals on POD 60 with regard to immunosuppression. Among these proteins, haptoglobin (Hp) which is related to inhibition of T-cell proliferation was found to be up-regulated following OLT. In addition, the transcriptional expression level and intracellular localization of Hp correlated with the immune events. Hp also exhibited a strong in vitro immunosuppressive effect on the mixed lymphocyte reaction. In conclusion, the presence of Hp may play an important role in modulating the spontaneous tolerance of liver transplantation. Furthermore, the serum proteome map could provide guidance with respect to discovering potential protein targets in OLT tolerance and eventually prolong hepatic allograft survival in the future.
School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. pan@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Tai-Long
TL
Pan
Pei-Wen
PW
Wang
Chao-Chen
CC
Huang
Shigeru
S
Goto
Chao-Long
CL
Chen
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D006242:Haptoglobins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011184:Postoperative Period; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000276:immunology
D001798:Blood Proteins; D006242:Haptoglobins; D007376:Interleukin-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger