title: Tolerance to rat heart grafts induced by intrathymic immunomodulation is mediated by indirect recognition primed CD4+CD25+ Treg cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In a rat model (PVG.R8-to-PVG.1U) disparate for one class I antigen, RT.1Aa, we previously demonstrated that intrathymic immunomodulation with donor antigens resulted in prolonged survival of cardiac allografts that underwent chronic rejection. However, long-term survivors developed a regulatory cell population that prevented both acute and chronic rejection when adoptively transferred into secondary graft recipients. The purpose of this study was to characterize these regulatory cells with particular emphasis on CD4+CD25+ Treg cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spleens, lymph nodes, and peripheral blood lymphocytes of secondary tolerant recipients were characterized using antibodies to various T cell markers in flow cytometry. In vitro MLR and in vivo adoptive transfer experiments were conducted to investigate the involvement of CD4+CD25+ T cells in the observed tolerance. The presence of various cytokines in the sera of graft recipients and MLR culture supernatants was tested using ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tolerant recipients compared with naive rats had substantially higher percentages of CD4+CD25+ T cells in the spleen (28+/-3% vs. 11+/-5%) and blood (23+/-6% vs. 9+/-4%). Tolerant animals also had higher levels of serum IL-10 than naive and rejecting animals. CD4+CD25+ T cells from secondary long-term graft survivors inhibited donor-specific proliferative responses in vitro that was associated with high IL-10 production. Importantly, depletion of CD4+CD25+ T cells from splenocytes of tolerant rats abrogated their ability to transfer tolerance to tertiary graft recipients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that cardiac allograft tolerance in this model is mediated by CD4+CD25+ Treg cells primed by indirect recognition and is associated with high levels of IL-10.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA.
authors.forename: Sadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Köksoy
authors.forename: Kutlu G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Elpek
authors.forename: Esma S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Yolcu
authors.forename: Haval
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shirwan
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D017710:Lymphocyte Transfusion; D023421:Models, Animal; D051381:Rats; D011912:Rats, Inbred ACI; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2