title: Differential dynamics of donor DC and non-DC peripheral blood mononuclear cell microchimerism in lung transplantation.
abstract: Donor cell microchimerism induces tolerance in animal models and may increase graft survival in man. Since dendritic cells (DC) are critical for induction of both tolerance and alloreactivity we developed a method to quantitate microchimerism in donor DC and non-DC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) after lung transplantation. Longitudinal analysis of donor cell microchimerism in eleven sex mismatched lung transplant recipients (LTR) up to 12 months post-transplant used Y chromosome based real-time PCR on sorted cells. Total DC or a proportion of DC subsets in PBMC did not change but there were heterogeneous and dynamic changes in microchimerism in DC and non-DC. Analysis of changes in DC using a mixed model analysis showed significantly less reduction in DC compared to non-DC over time (0.49, p=0.001). Preferential DC persistence compared to non-DC may indicate tolerance induction but future studies are required to determine if DC microchimerism after transplantation affects clinical outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van der Meulen
authors.forename: Nicole A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mifsud
authors.forename: Diahnn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abud
authors.forename: Eldho
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Varney
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.forename: Paul U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: Tom C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Kotsimbos
mesh_terms: D046528:Chimerism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D050173:Genes, Y-Linked / Q000235:genetics; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology