Involvement of autoimmunity against nuclear histone H1 in liver transplantation tolerance.
BACKGROUND
Our recent studies suggested that anti-histone H1 autoantibody (auto-Ab) plays an important role in experimental and clinical liver allograft tolerance as a natural immunosuppressive factor. The present study aimed to explore how the autoimmune response against histone H1 is involved in tolerance induction.


METHODS
The measurement of anti-histone H1 auto-Ab and immunohistochemical analysis were performed in serum and liver allografts after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). To compare the auto-Ab response against histone H1 between the recipients of rejector (DA-LEW) and tolerogenic (DA-PVG) OLT models, naïve recipients were immunized with calf thymus histone H1. The immunosuppressive state of histone H1-immunized rats was assayed by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR).


RESULTS
Anti-histone H1 Ab titer was transiently increased during the rejection phase after OLT (days 7-21) in the DA-PVG combination, while no such response was confirmed in the DA-LEW acute rejection model. Nuclear histone H1 antigens were found in the cytoplasm and the extracellular environment in liver allografts at the rejection phase in the tolerogenic model but not in the rejector model, resulting from the transient induction of anti-histone H1 auto-Ab in recipient PVG rats after OLT. Low dose and short-term immunization with histone H1 upregulated the anti-histone H1 Ab titer in naïve PVG rats, which exhibited a low allogeneic immune response, while no such response was found in naïve LEW rats.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the sensitivity to nuclear antigens such as histone H1 may be a key factor determining the acceptance or rejection of donor liver grafts, at least in DA-PVG and DA-LEW combinations.
Nakano
Toshiaki
T
Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan. toshi.nakano@msa.hinet.net
Goto
Shigeru
S
Lai
Chia-Yun
CY
Hsu
Li-Wen
LW
Wong
Jin-Long
JL
Kawamoto
Seiji
S
Chiang
Kuei-Chen
KC
Ohmori
Naoya
N
Goto
Takeshi
T
Sato
Shuji
S
Yang
Chin-Hsiang
CH
Wang
Chih-Chi
CC
Jawan
Bruno
B
Cheng
Yu-Fan
YF
Ono
Kazuhisa
K
Chen
Chao-Long
CL
D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology; D006657:Histones / Q000276:immunology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D006657:Histones