title: Chimerism after vascularized limb versus bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: This study used quantitative PCR in the murine model to compare the ability of a limb allograft vs. a comparable dose of marrow suspension to induce chimerism. Female C57Bl/6 mice received a vascularized hindlimb allograft, a comparable dose of 5 x 10 (6) donor bone marrow cells, or a standard dose (20 x 10 (6)) of marrow suspension from male Balb/c donors. All recipients were treated with a regimen based on CD40 costimulation blockade and T cell depletion. Y chromosome-specific quantitative PCR was used to measure chimerism. Most recipients of limb allografts demonstrated low levels of chimerism after 1 week (3/4) and 1 month (3/4). Most recipients of 5 x 10 (6) marrow cells had low levels of chimerism at 1 week (4/6) and only 1/5 after 1 month. All recipients of 20 x 10 (6) cells except one demonstrated either low or high levels of chimerism after 1 week (5/5) and 1 month (5/6). The marrow component of a limb allograft is thus more effective at inducing microchimerism compared to a comparable dose of bone marrow suspension.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Thalachallour
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mohanakumar
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mackinnon
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000276:immunology; D046528:Chimerism; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000637:transplantation*; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D023421:Models, Animal; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011897:Random Allocation; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D023201:CD40 Ligand