Prolonged survival of GalT-KO swine skin on baboons.
BACKGROUND
Allogeneic skin is currently the best alternative to autologous skin as a temporary treatment for severe burns, but it has several drawbacks. As a potential alternative, we have evaluated GalT-KO swine skin, which lacks expression of the Gal epitope, to investigate the effect of eliminating this epitope on survival of pig-to-baboon skin grafts.


METHODS
Two adult baboons that had fully recovered from previous T cell depletion received simultaneous skin grafts from: (i) GalT-KO swine, (ii) Gal-positive swine, (iii) a third-party baboon, and (iv) self (control skin). Recipients were treated with cyclosporin for 12 days and the survival, gross appearance, and histology of the grafts were compared.


RESULTS
In both baboons, the GalT-KO skin survived longer than either the Gal-positive swine skin or the allogeneic skin. Early rejection of the Gal-positive skin appeared to be mediated by cytotoxic preformed anti-Gal IgM antibodies, while the rejection of GalT-KO skin appeared to result from cellular mechanisms.


CONCLUSIONS
GalT-KO skin may have potential clinical benefits as an alternative to allogeneic skin as a temporary treatment for severe skin injuries.
The Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joshua
J
Weiner
Kazuhiko
K
Yamada
Yoshinori
Y
Ishikawa
Shannon
S
Moran
Justin
J
Etter
Akira
A
Shimizu
Rex Neal
RN
Smith
David H
DH
Sachs
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000276:immunology; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005700:Galactosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D010215:Papio / Q000276:immunology*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D013552:Swine / Q000276:immunology*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000276:immunology*
D000906:Antibodies; D000939:Epitopes; D003165:Complement System Proteins; D005700:Galactosyltransferases