The study was aimed to investigate the mechanism of T cell tolerance in human peripheral blood induced by rhG-CSF in vivo. Dendritic cell (DC) subsets, CD8(+)CD28(-) T suppressor cells and the expression of CD28 on T cells of peripheral blood before and after mobilization were analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry. The results showed that after mobilization by rhG-CSF in vivo, the relative counts of CD3(+)CD28(+) cells increased significantly (P < 0.01), and so did the CD8(+)CD28(+) cells (P < 0.01). The mean fluorescence intensity of CD28 expression on CD3(+) cells decreased greatly (P < 0.05), but there were no significant changes of the relative fluorescence intensity of CD28 overall expression on T cells (P > 0.05). The percentages of DC2 before mobilization were significantly lower as compared with normal bone marrow (P < 0.01). After using rhG-CSF, the DC2 count was significantly higher in the apheresis graft than in peripheral blood and bone marrow before mobilization (P < 0.01), while the DC1:DC2 ratios were lower (P < 0.01) and there was no significant difference of DC1 before and after mobilization (P > 0.05). The percentages of CD8(+)CD28(-) T suppressor cells increased significantly also after mobilization (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the higher numbers of DC2 and CD8(+)CD28(-) T suppressor cells in peripheral blood grafts may contribute to the ability of tolerance in peripheral blood T cells induced by rhG-CSF in vivo.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Female ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; pharmacology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; drug effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Recombinant Proteins ; T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; immunology ; Tissue Donors

The method of gene transfer into corneal endothelium was investigated to provide a foundation for the study of TGF-beta 1 gene transfer to inhibit corneal graft rejection. Two days after direct injection of pMAM TGF-beta 1 mediated by liposome into the anterior chamber of rabbits, one half of corneas were made into paraffin slides and the endothelial layer was carefully torn from the other half to make a single layer slide of endothelia. By means of immunohistochemical technique, the plasmid pMAM TGF-beta 1 expression product TGF-beta 1 in the endothelia was detected. Specific TGF-beta 1 expression was positive in the endothelia on both the paraffin slide and the single layer slide. The results showed that by direct injection into the anterior chamber, foreign plasmid DNA could be transferred into the endothelia and its expression was obtained. This may provide a foundation for further study on TGF-beta 1 participating in local induction of corneal immune tolerance.
Animals ; Anterior Chamber ; Corneal Transplantation ; Endothelium, Corneal ; drug effects ; pathology ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Immune Tolerance ; Rabbits ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; administration & dosage ; biosynthesis ; genetics

The method of gene transfer into corneal endothelium was investigated to provide a foundation for the study of TGF-beta 1 gene transfer to inhibit corneal graft rejection. Two days after direct injection of pMAM TGF-beta 1 mediated by liposome into the anterior chamber of rabbits, one half of corneas were made into paraffin slides and the endothelial layer was carefully torn from the other half to make a single layer slide of endothelia. By means of immunohistochemical technique, the plasmid pMAM TGF-beta 1 expression product TGF-beta 1 in the endothelia was detected. Specific TGF-beta 1 expression was positive in the endothelia on both the paraffin slide and the single layer slide. The results showed that by direct injection into the anterior chamber, foreign plasmid DNA could be transferred into the endothelia and its expression was obtained. This may provide a foundation for further study on TGF-beta 1 participating in local induction of corneal immune tolerance.
Anterior Chamber ; Corneal Transplantation ; Endothelium, Corneal/*drug effects ; Endothelium, Corneal/pathology ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Immune Tolerance ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/administration &

This study was aimed to explore the effects and mechanisms of transplantation tolerance induced by "TBI + cyclophosphamide (CTX)" regimen combined with intra-bone marrow injection of allogenic BMCs. On day 0 C57BL/6 (H-2(b), B6) mice received sublethal dose of total body irradiation (TBI) ((60)Co gamma-ray) followed by intrabone marrow-bone marrow transplantation (IBM-BMT) of 3 x 10(7) cells/30 microl BMCs from BALB/c (H-2(d)) mice. The recipient mice were given CTX intraperitoneally 2 days after IBM-BMT. On day 7 skin grafting was performed and the skin survival was observed. The tolerance mechanism was investigated by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), IL-2 reverse test, adoptive transfer assay in vitro. The results showed that the mean survival time (MST) of skin allografts in group treated with TBI + CTX + BMT was significantly longer, compared with that of other groups (P < 0.01). On day 90 after IBM-BMT, the phenotypic character of the recipient mice (black color) began to convert to that of the donor mice (white color). The MLR demonstrated that the immune responses of recipient mice were donor-specific tolerance. Suppressive activity in the spleen cells of tolerant B6 mice was observed in adoptive transfer assay in vitro. IL-2 reversal and the phenotypic conversion showed that the tolerance mechanisms were involved in clonal anergy and the development of chimerism. It is concluded that the nonmyeloablative regimen combined with IBM-BMT can induce a long-term tolerance, and the multiple mechanisms including clonal anergy, suppressor cells and chimerism were involved in transplantation immune tolerance.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; immunology ; methods ; Cyclophosphamide ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Interleukin-2 ; administration & dosage ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Time Factors ; Transplantation Tolerance ; drug effects ; immunology ; Whole-Body Irradiation

OBJECTIVETo study the radiosensitizing effect of resveratrol on human hypo pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (FaDu) cells in nude mice.

METHODSForty-three nude mice bearing FaDu cell xenografts were randomized into control group, radiotherapy (12 Gy) group, resveratrol treatment (50 mg/kg) group, and radiotherapy plus resveratrol treatment group. After corresponding treatments, the tumor volume in the mice was measured every 3 days, and the microvessel density (MVD) in the tumor was evaluated with CD31 immunofluorescence histochemical staining.

RESULTSThe tumor volume and weight were the smallest in mice receiving radiotherapy plus resveratrol treatment (P<0.05) but comparable between those having resveratrol treatment alone and the control mice. Radiotherapy plus resveratrol treatment resulted in a tumor inhibition rate of 76.64% and a significantly decreased MVD in the tumor compared with the other 3 groups.

CONCLUSIONResveratrol can produce a radiosensitizing effect on human hypopharyngeal carcinoma in nude mice.

Animals ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; radiation effects ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Humans ; Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Radiation Tolerance ; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents ; pharmacology ; Stilbenes ; pharmacology ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Tumor Burden

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of combined heart-thymus transplantation for heart allograft in rats. METHODS: Vascularized heart-thymus combined transplantation was performed with microsurgical technique. Graft survival, histopathology, infiltration of CD4+, CD8+ T cells, level and mRNA expressions of IL-2 and IL-4 in the serum and cardiac grafts were investigated. RESULTS: Heart allograft in the controls had a survival time of (6.0+/-0.76) d. heart-thymus combined transplantation in non-thymectomized rats had a survival time of (6.88+/-0.64)d (P<0.05). Heart-thymus combined transplantation in thymectomized rats led to an evident survival time of (14.13+/-5.82)d (P<0.01) for cardiac graft, which further obtained long term survival after short course of treatment with cyclosporine. Pathologic lesion and infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in cardiac grafts showed mitigated in the long term survival group. IL-2 level in the serum and cardiac grafts maintained low level in the long term survival group, whereas IL-4 maintained high level. CONCLUSION Whether thymectomized or not in recipient rats, heart-thymus combined transplantation has a positive effect to protect cardiac graft. Furthermore, in thymectomized rats heart-thymus combined transplantation may lead to evident survival prolongation of the heart grafts, which induces immune tolerance in short course of treatment with cyclosporine.
Animals ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Cyclosporine ; therapeutic use ; Graft Survival ; drug effects ; immunology ; Heart Transplantation ; Immune Tolerance ; drug effects ; immunology ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Interleukin-2 ; blood ; genetics ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Thymectomy ; Thymus Gland ; transplantation ; Time Factors ; Transplantation Immunology ; immunology ; Transplantation, Homologous

Pancreatic islet transplantation can correct the abnormal glucose metabolism of Type 1 diabetes. Although immunosuppressants greatly reduce the acute rejection rate in transplant patients, the long-term side effects can be debilitating. Therefore, researchers are seeking to develop new immunosuppressive regimens that induce maximal levels of immunosuppression with minor side effects. Rosmarinic acid (Ros A) is a secondary metabolite of certain herbs and has multiple biological activities, including anti-inflammatory effects. Here, we have investigated whether treatment of mice with a combination of Ros A and anti-CD154 monoclonal antibody (MR1) improves islet allograft survival in a murine model. After transplantation, the mice were treated with either Ros A, MR1, or both (the "double" treatment). Allograft survival was prolonged in the double-treated animals compared to animals that received only Ros A or MR1. As is the case with the single-treated animals at 15 days after transplantation, the double-treated recipients did not display a significant decrease in the expression of cytokines or the population of activated T cells. Infiltrating CD3+ T cells were reduced in the MR1- or double therapy relative to control or RosA group. However, at the same time point, double-treated graft showed fewer apoptotic cells and increased expression of insulin and glucagons, compared to the single-treatment groups. Furthermore, long-term (>150 days) allografts that were received with double therapy exhibited larger islet clusters and contained more insulin- and glucagon-positive cells, relative to the MR1-treated grafts. In conclusion, treatment with both Ros A and MR1 has a synergistic effect in murine islet allotransplantation.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/*pharmacology ; Apoptosis/drug effects ; CD40 Ligand/*immunology ; Cinnamates/*pharmacology ; Cytokines/biosynthesis ; Depsides/*pharmacology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; Flow Cytometry ; Glucose/metabolism ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Graft Survival/*drug effects ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Islets of Langerhans/drug effects/pathology ; *Islets of Langerhans Transplantation ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Time Factors ; Transplantation, Homologous

This study was designed to evaluate whether sirolimus (SRL) conversion effectively improves renal function and histopathology in calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-treated renal recipients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency. SRL conversion from CNI was performed in patients who underwent kidney transplantation from 6 months to 5 yr prior to screening. Forty-five patients were enrolled. The effect of SRL conversion on graft function was evaluated, and protocol biopsies were performed preconversion and 1 yr after conversion. Overall graft function after SRL conversion gradually improved, and the improvement in renal function was closely associated with the shorter duration of CNI exposure. When we divided the patients by the duration of CNI exposure, the patients with less than 1 yr of CNI exposure demonstrated significant improvement, but patients with a greater than 1 yr CNI exposure did not exhibit significant improvement. In contrast, protocol biopsies demonstrated no significant improvements in the modified "ah" score or other Banff scores after SRL conversion. Furthermore, the duration of CNI treatment prior to SRL conversion was not associated with histological findings 1 yr after SRL conversion. SRL conversion improved graft function in renal recipients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency, but this effect is not accompanied by histological improvement.
Adult ; Calcineurin Inhibitors/*administration & dosage ; Drug Synergism ; Female ; Graft Rejection/*etiology/*prevention & control ; Graft Survival/drug effects ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects/*methods ; Male ; Renal Insufficiency/diagnosis/*therapy ; Republic of Korea ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sirolimus/*administration & dosage ; Transplantation Tolerance/drug effects ; Treatment Outcome

Honokiol is an active compound purified from magnolia that has been shown to induce cell differentiation, apoptosis, and anti-angiogenesis effects, as well as an enhancement in tumor growth delay in combination with chemotherapeutic agents in several mouse xenograft models. Our goal was to investigate the radiosensitization effect of honokiol on lung carcinoma. The radiosensitization effect of liposomal honokiol in Lewis lung carcinoma cells (LL/2) was analyzed using an in vitro clonogenic survival assay. For an in vivo study, Lewis lung carcinoma-bearing C57BL/6 mice were treated with either liposomal honokiol at 25 mg/kg or 5 Gy of single tumor radiation, or a combination of both over 12 days of treatment. The tumor growth delay and the survival time were evaluated. In addition, histological analysis of tumor sections was performed to examine changes by detecting the microvessel density and apoptosis in tumor tissues. In the clonogenic survival assay, LL/2 cells treated with IC50 Lipo-HNK for 24 h showed a radiation enhancement ratio of 1.9. After 12 days of combination treatment, the tumor volume decreased 78% and produced an anti-tumor activity 1.3-fold greater than a predicted additive effect of honokiol and radiation alone. This combination treatment also caused an 8.7 day delay in tumor growth. The cell cycle distribution and histological analysis demonstrated that liposomal honokiol has an anti-tumor effect via inducing apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis. Liposomal honokiol can enhance tumor cell radiosensitivity in vitro and in vivo, indicating that radiotherapy combined with liposomal honokiol can lead to greater anti-tumor efficacy.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Biphenyl Compounds/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Lewis Lung/drug therapy/radiotherapy/*therapy ; Cell Cycle/drug effects/radiation effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Lignans/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Liposomes ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy/radiotherapy/*therapy ; Magnolia/chemistry ; Mice ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/drug therapy/radiotherapy ; Radiation Tolerance ; Transplantation, Heterologous

OBJECTIVETo observe the influence of decreasing conditioning regimen intensity on the engraftment of HLA haplotype peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

METHODTwelve patients with leukemia, including 4 in complete remission, whose HLAs were full matched with donors, and 8 with refractory leukemia, whose HLAs were mismatched, were transplanted with G-CSF mobilized allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells after conditioned with a regimen consisting of fludarabine (30 mg/m(2) x 6 days), busulfan (4 mg/kg x 2 days) and cyclophosphamide (30 approximately 60 mg/kg x 2 days) (FBC). Donor lymphocytes were infused at day + 30, + 60 and + 90 after transplantation, respectively. Hematopoietic reconstitution was observed. Engraftment was documented by the analysis of short tandem repeats with polymerase chain reaction (STR-PCR).

RESULTPatients in HLA haplotype group received a mean number of 4.87 x 10(8)/kg donor mononuclear cells (MNC), with CD(34)(+) cells of 4.58 x 10(6)/kg and patients in HLA identical group a mean number of 4.85 x 10(8)/kg MNC with CD(34)(+) cells of 4.47 x 10(6)/kg. The mean time of white blood cell count more than 1.0 x 10(9)/L was 14 (10 approximately 18) days in HLA matched patients and 29 (11 approximately 90) days in HLA haplotype group. One three locus mismatched patient failed to engraft, but auto-hematopoiesis was recovered on day + 50. Full donor chimerism was observed in all patients except one with mixed chimera. The mixed chimera was converted into full donor chimera after three times donor lymphocyte infusion. One each died from severe acute GVHD, severe VOD and severe chronic GVHD in HLA haplotype group, and one from chronic GVHD in HLA identical group.

CONCLUSIONPatients survived engraftment was not influenced by decreasing conditioning intensity as in this regimen. Haplotype stem cells could be engrafted durable in recipients by this regimen combined with donor lymphocyte infusion.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Busulfan ; therapeutic use ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Graft Survival ; drug effects ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Leukemia ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Transplantation Tolerance ; drug effects ; Vidarabine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use