title: A murine model of graft-vs-host disease after in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) is a known complication of in utero bone marrow transplantation. However, GvHD has been difficult to study owing to frequent fetal demise. We describe the first consistent murine model of GvHD with postnatal survival after in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 50/50 mixture of bone marrow and splenocytes (10(6)) from 6-week-old C57/BL6 (H2-b) mice was injected intraperitoneally into Balb/c (H2-d) fetuses at e14 to 16. Live born pups were followed for clinical GvHD. Peripheral blood and hematopoietic organ chimerism was confirmed by flow cytometry and polymerase chain reaction. Organ samples were isolated for histology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven (75%) of 36 surviving pups displayed clinical GvHD by 2 weeks compared with 9 developmentally normal pups. Mean difference in weight between the 2 groups was 2.9 g at 7 days and 5.2 g at 14 days of life (P < .0001). All 27 pups with clinical GvHD and 1 normal-appearing pup had blood chimerism ranging from 1.5% to 65%. Eight of the 9 normal-appearing pups had 0% chimerism. Histologic analysis revealed findings of GvHD in liver, spleen, small intestine, and skin specimens of only chimeric pups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A consistent murine model of GvHD can be achieved after in utero transplantation of major histocompatibility complex-mismatched bone marrow and splenocytes. Future studies will use this model to examine approaches to prevent GvHD after in utero stem cell transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Meghna V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Jordan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gutweiler
authors.forename: Matthew Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Twark
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valim
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perez-Atayde
authors.forename: Heung Bae
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046528:Chimerism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy