title: Mice lacking C1q or C3 show accelerated rejection of minor H disparate skin grafts and resistance to induction of tolerance.
abstract: Complement activation is known to have deleterious effects on organ transplantation. On the other hand, the complement system is also known to have an important role in regulating immune responses. The balance between these two opposing effects is critical in the context of transplantation. Here, we report that female mice deficient in C1q (C1qa(-/-)) or C3 (C3(-/-)) reject male syngeneic grafts (HY incompatible) at an accelerated rate compared with WT mice. Intranasal HY peptide administration, which induces tolerance to syngeneic male grafts in WT mice, fails to induce tolerance in C1qa(-/-) or C3(-/-) mice. The rejection of the male grafts correlated with the presence of HY D(b)Uty-specific CD8(+) T cells. Consistent with this, peptide-treated C1qa(-/-) and C3(-/-) female mice rejecting male grafts exhibited more antigen-specific CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) and CD8(+)IL-10(+) cells compared with WT females. This suggests that accumulation of IFN-gamma- and IL-10-producing T cells may play a key role in mediating the ongoing inflammatory process and graft rejection. Interestingly, within the tolerized male skin grafts of peptide-treated WT mice, IFN-gamma, C1q and C3 mRNA levels were higher compared to control female grafts. These results suggest that C1q and C3 facilitate the induction of intranasal tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Section, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, London, UK.
authors.forename: Paramita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baruah
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Ingrid E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Dumitriu
authors.forename: Katy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Derbyshire
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coe
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Addey
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dyson
authors.forename: Jian-Guo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Botto
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015922:Complement C1q / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology*; D006182:H-Y Antigen / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D016207:Cytokines; D006182:H-Y Antigen; D015922:Complement C1q; D007371:Interferon-gamma