title: Orthotopic mouse liver transplantation to study liver biology and allograft tolerance.
abstract: Orthotopic liver transplantation in the mouse is a powerful research tool that has led to important mechanistic insights into the regulation of hepatic injury, liver immunopathology, and transplant tolerance. However, it is a technically demanding surgical procedure. Setup of the orthotopic liver transplantation model comprises three main stages: surgery on the donor mouse; back-table preparation of the liver graft; and transplant of the liver into the recipient mouse. In this protocol, we describe our procedure in stepwise detail to allow efficient completion of both the donor and recipient operations. The protocol can result in consistently high technical success rates when performed by personnel experienced in the protocol. The technique can be completed in ∼2-3 h when performed by an individual who is well practiced in performing mouse transplantation in accordance with this protocol. We have achieved a perioperative survival rate close to 100%.
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Gutiérrez
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Liver Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.affiliation: Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Angus W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Thomson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D023421:Models, Animal; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance